World Peace in the Atomic Age

II

We are all conscious entities being of the same essence as that of God. There is one underlying unity – as such we are brothers and sisters in the true sense of the word and form the Universal Brotherhood which can be cemented if the much needed Inner Unity is realised. Now we know all things intellectually. As we have not known ourselves, our Inner Eye is not all pervading. When your Inner Eye, Single Eye, or Latent Eye is opened then only you will see the same Light of God working throughout all.

You will have True Love for all and True Regard for all scriptures left by the past Masters. All scriptures say that God resides in all creation and is immanent in every form.

We live and have our being in God. We should treat everyone as our own flesh and blood.

We are all members of the same family of God.

• A true ahimsa – non-violence –, which is the highest of all Dharma.
  
  
• He will live a life of truthfulness.
  
  
• He will hold a high character.
  
  
• He will have Love for all – hatred for none.
  
  
• He will lead a life of selfless senice for the uplift all humanity.

These are the five pillars on which mansions of peace can be built. These five pillars are cemented by developing the Spiritual Contact within. He looks to the whole world and the various countries as so many rooms therein.

The governments are raised as custodians for the good of the people. They are doing their best to restore peace and order in various ways in the world. The United Nations was also formed to secure this end.

The governments can control the bodies of men, but cannot do man-making – until the hearts and minds change, the world situation cannot change. Change must come from within.

As I told you already,

Out of the abundance of his heart a man speaks.

The very words he utters are charged with Love. Whatever comes from the heart, that goes to the hearts of the people. This is the sole work of really Spiritual Men and not sectarian, who are to do this job, without which no government can be fully successful. Paid preaching.

I am forced to mention this thing, because it has done more harm to humanity than the helping of it.

Paid preaching carried on by professional and narrow-minded preachers has made matters worse in all religions. They, instead of uniting mankind, have assisted in separating man from man.

Look to the olden days.

Four phases of life were prescribed for man. The first twenty-five years of age were spent to learn all the scriptures and other knowledge. After that twenty-five years to attend to household affairs. After that, a man had to go into seclusion for about twenty-five years in order to realise his own self and to realise God. When he had realised himself and God, he was to go around from place to place for preaching to all mankind selflessly. Such persons were called sanyasins who were required to preach.

All Masters enjoin us to love God and to love all humanity with all our soul, with all our heart, and with all strength.

Masters Who came in the past told us to go by the Scriptures. How many of us should do this? At least those who are awakened to this Truth should do that. Let them start from themselves. God wants reformers, as told you before, not of others but of themselves. So many people sitting here, say six hundred to seven hundred, if we just start doing that – there will be a change. Those who come in contact with you, they will also change. So you see it requires a very rational way of preaching by those who have Universal Love, who follow the True Import of the Holy Scriptures which are fortunately with us today.

Had we come, say a hundred years before or four hundred years before we would not have the Scriptures or experiences of Those Who came within these periods, viz., Ramakrishna and others.

Had we come before five hundred years we would not have the Scriptures of the Sikh Gurus, which are a voluminous treasure of Divinity.

Had we come another fourteen or fifteen hundred years back we would not have the Holy Koran with us.

Further, back to two thousand years, if we happened to have come before that, we would not have even the Bible.

Twenty-five hundred years back had you come you would not have even the Scriptures of Buddha and Mahavira.

So we are fortunate these days in the twentieth century that all Those Who came in the past with fine records of Their personal experiences which They had with the self and with Overself are with us today. We can be benefited therefrom but unless we know the True Import of the Scriptures, understand the one underlying principle therein, and live up to them, we are nowhere. What do they say? They advise us to have a robust physical life, to have an ideal moral life and to know our own self and to know God.

There are two kinds of knowledge, one is called Apara Vidya and the other is called Para Vidya.

Apara Vidya consists of reading scriptures and performance of rituals and other ceremonies, giving alms, etc.; these are the elementary stages required for paving the road to Spirituality. The main purpose underlying this is to create in us an interest in knowing self and knowing God and also in leading an ethical life, which is the stepping stone to Spirituality. For that, naturally, we have to seek the guidance of Someone Who has realised that Spiritual Life.

The main draw-back is that we do not know what we are and where we stand. Our soul is under bondage of mind and matter. If you learn practically how to analyse yourself and rise above the body consciousness, you will see that you are not the body, nor the intellect, nor the outgoing faculties. We know so many things but only intellectually. Is it possible to know one’s self and know God?

As I told you before, yes, it is possible by following Para Vidya, the science of practical self-analysis in the natural way, which can be followed by men of all ages. Unless you know who you are and what you are, and what your relation is with God and all creation, you cannot be fully at peace. This is no matter of feelings, emotions or inferences arrived at by intellectual wrestling, as they are all subject to error. This is a matter of seeing, which is above all of them and given out by all Masters Who came in the past. This applies to all irrespective of whether you belong to one country or the other, or one religion or the other; that makes no difference.

Since man is a social being, social institutions were formed just to enable him to lead a life of high morality, of chastity, and of Love for all mankind and pass days of life in peace.

To achieve this end, we have to see the unity underlying all creation by knowing our self and knowing God. We have wonderfully developed in the way of science but still with all the amenities it has afforded us, we are still not happy. The True Happiness will come if you will know yourself.

We were talking of the governments, that they can control bodies but cannot make men. Making of men is the job of really Spiritual People.

Look at the kings of a like Dashratha, Ashoka and others; almost all of them had in their courts really wide-awake seers of Spiritual Status Whom they consulted in all matters affecting humanity as a whole and from Whom they received substantial help in carrying out the work of their states without having recourse to the use of physical force. If similar guidance can now be had, it would go a long way to secure peace in the world. You will see that our success in achieving self- government in India without a regular war was mainly do to the wise counsel and guidance of Gandhi Ji which were based on moral force with some Spiritual Background. All of us owe respect to him.

If you follow the principles as I have told you, there will be peace on earth. It is not a new thing.

It is already there in the Scriptures left by Masters Who came in the past. They all gave out the same thing. But we know all this only intellectually.

The only thing required is to just put into practice what we know. Instead of preaching to others we should start preaching to ourselves. Live up to what we say. There will be a very definite change arising. It may be there is danger of war overhead but if we at least know what we are and try to live up to what is said above, that will not make matters worse; that will help the majority of people.

It is true when the house is on fire, a well cannot be dug out then and there. If we just start living up to what has been laid before us, viz., love God, and as God resides in all hearts, we should love all humanity and all creation, that will go a long way to help us.

In the Hindu scriptures, you will find that they give milk to the serpents, Gugapir, as it is called, because God is immanent in all forms.

A question was put to Christ as to how we should behave towards others, and He said,

Love thy neighbour as thyself.

When He was asked what to do with the enemies, He said,

Love thine enemies.

The True Spiritual Man looks to the very God in all hearts. He works from that level. Such people, the more in number, will go to create more peace and Love for one another.

So, with these words let me thank you all for the patient hearing that you have given and take leave.

Kirpal Singh