Become beacon of lights

Students! You have to consider seriously the root cause for the chaos, the injustice, the falsehood, and the disorder in which the world is caught up today. The old are lost in brooding over the past and lamenting the passing of “the good old days”. The young are concerned about planning their future, their jobs, marriage, and family, and so on. Both are ignoring their duties in the present. They do not realise that the present is both a product of the past and the seed for the future. If the present is properly taken care of, the future will be good of its own accord. Decide to do your duty in the present. It will pave a royal road for the future. Duty is God. Work is worship. Make these two mottos something in the future. What is the guarantee that such a time will come? Putting off obligations for tomorrow is irrational. Live in the present. Resolve to fulfil your immediate duty.

Show your gratitude to your parents, to those who have nourished and cherished you, to your teachers and to your spouses. This is the primary index of humanness. Today, instead of gratitude, we have cruelty. People do not hesitate to do harm to those who have done them good. This is inhuman.

HUMAN FAMILY

Eschew separation. You have to develop the consciousness that you belong to one and the same human family. There should be no feeling of separation on the basis of language, caste, or creed. If you have not understood the greatness of your country and have no regard for upholding its stature and honour, of what worth is your education? Book knowledge is of little worth. All the energy expended on studying books will later turn to allergy. What is important is the cultivation of pure and sacred ideals. Acquiring degrees and going a begging for jobs is a pitiable situation. Develop self-reliance and build your life on faith in God. Learning to earn a living is only half the job. The other half is to make life worthwhile and meaningful.

Take note of the immeasurable ways in which energy is being wasted –seeing bad things, listening to bad things, bad speech, bad thoughts, and bad deeds. Energy is wasted in all these five ways. The power of sight is a precious gift. Whenever you see, some divine energy is expended in the act of seeing. This will be evident from the fact that blind people are found with considerable reserves of energy. There are many intelligent people among the blind. The man with sight walks briskly during the day and flounders in the dark. Blind people walk at the same even pace during the day and night. The deaf and the dumb also conserve considerable energy because they don’t waste it on speech or hearing. Good conduct is essential. So observe unity in thought, word, and deed.

Courtesy Sai Institute of Education West Indies, St Michael, Barbados. Visit them at www.siewi.org or https://www.sathyasai.org/about-us/education or email siewibb@saibarbados.org.