2. The Wise, the Brave, and the Loving

A talk delivered in English by Swami Gitanand Ji

I consider this Ashram as my home, although I have had the privilege to live in many ashrams in this country, and we have put the permanent foundation of our headquarters in South India, in Pondicherry. Still, as I told Giani Ji¹ the other day, to come to Delhi is to come home, especially to this hallowed spot. I would like to tell you why.

In my life I have been drawn to three types of people. In the early part, one type, and now at this later stage I find myself drawn to two other types of persons. As a child somehow, almost naturally, I was drawn to the wise. My earliest memories of my father’s household in northern Uttar Pradesh are of sitting on the stairways or second floor balcony, listening to wise men discourse with my father and grandfather. I feel I am the most privileged of all men alive, for I have been to the feet of all the great men and women of this country and many other countries. In 1938 I had the privilege of being in the company of this Good One (indicating the Master beside him), also of Baba Sawan Singh Ji, Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi, Sivananda Saraswati, Ramdas, Atmananda Saraswati. As a young man I was drawn to these men. It seems natural to seek Sat Sangat – the company of the wise men – and there, simply to imbibe their wisdom, and also the magnificent feeling they were able to pervade – that which you feel in the presence of Great Men.

Later in life, almost as naturally as I was drawn to the wise, I was drawn to the brave, and spent six years in military service, during which time I came to admire the stout of heart and the truly brave. Even to this day I have an open heart for the military serviceman who has a unique position in society to protect his homeland, his loved ones, and the very things around which this society must turn. For that reason I moved with our military here in India, and I enjoy the pleasure from having done some service to the country. Bravery can be found naturally in the hearts of men, as we are observing these days in Asian situations like Bangla Desh. I am proud of being a human being, and eschew violence, which I do not understand. If there is any violence in me, I am unaware of it. In World War II I was knocked out by the violence – there was no room left for any more violence – but I came back from that with the highest esteem for brave men.

The third type I was drawn to was the loving souls of this world. Through karmas, no doubt, I was born among a loving family – mother, father, and grandparents; my entire life has been in the shelter of loving people, even today in the shelter of thousands upon thousands of loving people. So I have been drawn to the wise, the brave, and the loving. It is no wonder that my feet found their way to the presence of this One (again indicating the Master), for He epitomises all these – the wise, the brave, the loving – in one body.

From early in life, one type of person began to seek me out – those in need of physical help – and no doubt again through karma, I was led into a medical and psychiatric career. I can number some two million patients in thirty-eight years, and to those who sought me out to help their broken bodies and worn minds, I trust I have been of some service. As I grew older, through imbibing from the wise, brave and loving, I began to understand what they had to give, and perhaps through the good counsel they gave me, some wisdom and love, others began to seek me for some knowledge, to get some understanding of the principles of life. Now in these last years I have been taken into the most responsible position that life has afforded to date, that is to have in my hands hundreds of thousands of young people, and the responsibility of guiding and training them in the Inner Life.

There is a magnificent revival here in India. I am almost at the conclusion of my fifth all-India tour where we have taken in every state in the Union, and territory of the Union, with the exception of Manipur. Always there is tremendous interest towards the Inner Life and particularly the scientific aspect of yoga. But this year we have seen the largest audiences, are speaking to the largest groups, and are having in the sessions the largest classes we have ever seen. I am certain beyond any doubt that we are in the midst of a counter-revolution to the violence and evil in the world, that great masses of people in the midst of the violence are looking for peace, that a great group in these war-torn and dangerous times are settling in the mind of peace.

As Bapu Ji (Mahatma Gandhi) himself put it,

In the midst of darkness Light exists, in the midst of untruth Truth exists, in the midst of death Life exists.

But I think we are experiencing something which is unique to its time: that here in this country, poor as we are and in danger as we are, people dare to seek the regions of the spirit, that people are being led from within, that there is a mass turning to higher consciousness.

I share with you today a very special day, which is the first in nearly three months that beloved Sant Ji has been able to hold Satsang. For myself in the role of a doctor I don’t like to see anyone sick, but always like to see them well. So to see Him in excellent spirits, in such progress towards good health, is medicine to me.

I have had the good privilege of staying in this Ashram and speaking to you Satsangis before, and I wish to conclude these few remarks by simply suggesting that you remain faithful to the Spiritual Evolution which is taking place, aware that we are now being caught up in a world-wide universal Inner Life movement. Some of you have been on the Path for many years and have great gratitude in you; please be pillars of strength to the younger people in your midst. I ask you, please be examples to the many young people who are in need of example. And to the young people, spiritually speaking, the time has never been better for Spiritual Revolution. Everywhere I go, people are crying, ‘Kali Yuga, Kali Yuga, age of darkness, age of darkness, we are finished, we are done.’ I say, do not say that. Remember that immediately after the Kali Yuga is the age of Truth, and that in Nature there is always a perfect blending. There will not be a sudden ending of Kali Yuga and then a bursting in of Sat Yuga, the age of Light. As no man can tell the difference between the dark that comes before the dawn and the dawn itself, so there are heralds of the dawn: the Saints Who have ever remained a Light in the darkness. Remember also that in past ages, some of our great rishis took hundreds, even thousands, of years to evolve. Back in the age of Truth itself, some of the rishis had to do one thousand years’ penance to overcome certain faults in their nature. May I tell you that today also, penance is necessary? – In Kali Yuga penances are necessary. It does not need one thousand or five hundred or one hundred years’ penance, for by turning to the Grace of the Inner Spirit, the penance is done. What took hundreds of years to achieve before can be achieved in a moment by those who are ready.

So for those who are turning to that age of Light, even though we are still in darkness, achievement can come quickly. Some of you older Satsangis know that in the earlier part of your Spiritual Development, things were slow. Now, the young people are achieving it in a few days – they come to the same stage. I ask the older ones not to be jealous. Sometimes I hear a complaint, ‘Oh, I have been studying for thirty years, how come he or she thinks they are so smart in only two weeks!’ Let me tell you that Kali Yuga time is like that, and we are nearing the time when man will come to the mountainhood of his own Spirituality, Inner Spirituality, in the twinkling of an eye. It is auspicious that we are at this particular age, in this particular time. We have come to that point. Without a doubt, we are on that trajectory leading to that high pinnacle point. I call on you to serve the Self within. Hari Om Tat Sat.

_______________

Footnote: 1) A Sawan Ashram resident.