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From time immemorial the march of history has brought about great changes, of progress upwards or decline and decay, of ups and downs. These reflect the quality of human endeavor in any particular period of history.
The fundamental truth is that the present situation is a product of the past. The future is not a continuation of the past. The past is modified in the present and becomes the future. The modifications may be degradation or an upgradation. Thus, there are examples of a glorious past which on account of the poor contribution of the living generation turned into an inglorious future. There are also examples of a sad past modified into a glorious future by brilliant efforts of the living generation. After the last war, Eastern Europe came under the oppressive rule of Russia and suffered from the 1940s to the 1980s. But this year, they reacted all of a sudden and, by united efforts, overnight they freed themselves from oppression. Germany was divided into two by the Allies after the last war and separated by a wall. Now the wall has crumbled and the will of the people has asserted itself. Rebuilding a united Germany has started. By breaking down the wall and selling it they made more money than had been earlier spent to build the wall! Similarly it may be a good idea to build a wall in Assam to keep out infiltrations. A time will come when nationalism will become resurgent that there would be no more fear of infiltration and the wall could be pulled down. The data are there and we have only to analyse, and digest them and take wise decisions.
The present suffering is no doubt the product of the past but that does not mean that we have no escape from the past and that we have to continue to suffer. No, it is possible to act in the present so as to bring about a glorious future. To continue the past and the status-quo (present), the old bandicoots are sufficient. The old leaders will continue what the earlier generation had been doing. Do you think that the present government is a change from the earlier one? Was the earlier one a change from the one preceding it? No. There is no point in accusing them as they are all used to continuing the status-quo or even making it worse. Then who is to bring the change?
It is the Youth. That is why I have chosen the subject for today: 'Youth alone can'. Roll up your sleeves and strive to rebuild the country.
The present can change the past by intelligent, well-planned, continuous effort. While thus working, many sacrifices may have to be made. When is it that the community or society has not had to pay in sweat and blood in order to rebuild a better place for the next generation? The amount of sacrifice to be made depends upon the conditions prevailing. Consistent and intelligent effort is called for. But if the youth has no ability to think, to plan, to bring about the necessary changes, and has no consistency of effort, the future cannot be built. It will be sadder than the present.
Therefore, if the youth is to contribute rightly to reshape the present into a more harmonious and happy progress in the future, they must have knowledge, and not merely information. The information that you are gathering from your studies must inspire you to dedicate yourselves for the reconstruction of the present. Then only will life be fulfilled. Animals and birds also make and have little ones, look after them, teach them to look after themselves as they grow. If man also lives only at that level and is engrossed in earning and enjoying himself, he is not in any way different from an animal. But man has the intellect to know what is right, to act rightly to the best of his ability, to gain the joy of fulfillment, and to lead a rewarding life. We always glorify such people-a Mahatma Gandhi and other great men in different fields of activity. They are all people who contributed, significantly for the welfare and progress of the community. They gave more than they got from the world.
See the difference between Ravana and Rama: both were great, but while Ravana was intent on grabbing, acquiring and subduing others, Rama was constantly thinking of the welfare of the people, serving and sacrificing. The glory of man is the ability to sacrifice for the sake and benefit of others. We need persons of this type who are inspired by nationalism or ambition to reach the highest perfection in one’s profession. We want such young men of perfection. We want young men of beauty and excellence in every field of work, as it is a highly competitive world that we will enter in the twenty first century. A nation cannot be built by third-rate people. Objections are immediately raised. We must help the poor and the backward. Historical mistakes of the past must no doubt be corrected. But while correcting we must not make more mistakes. A mistake cannot be corrected by more mistakes, but only by a logical and intelligent solution. This requires knowledge and wisdom. Mere information will not do. Information must be digested, assimilated and transformed into knowledge. Youth possessing such knowledge would be the true leaders.
It needs a lot of vision, insight, heroism and courage, to live up to what you believe in, the ideal that you have kept before you. That ideal should be chosen uninfluenced by your likes and dislikes, and by keeping your mind open to ideas from others, taking time to examine and criticize your own predilections, and keeping out selfishness. Once you have decided on your goal, hold on to it and put forth consistent efforts. When you work for a great ideal, obstructions are bound to come, for this is the law of life. Nature provides these obstacles to bring out the best and noblest in the individual striving to reach his goal, bringing greater glory to him. This is how one grows.
Mother Ganges comes down from the peaks of the Himalayas and after flowing through an extensive area of the country reaches the Bay of Bengal. Do you think that her journey to the Bay is a smooth one without any obstructions? She encounters many obstructions during the journey. In places where there are no obstacles you are not conscious that there is a river as she is silent. When she encounters any small stones there is a soft musical sound. When bigger rocks are met, there is a bigger sound and some bubbles and froth are seen. She gathers her white sari and goes around the rocks. Where the stone is small she jumps over it with laugher. If she encounters a mountain, she rubs her shoulders at the feet of the mountain and moves along its sides till she comes to the end of the mountain, then goes round and continues her journey till she reaches the Bay. Similarly, you must have a goal and the determination to reach it, despite the obstacles that you are bound to encounter. With each obstacle that you overcome, the greater is your glory, the greater is the sense of fulfillment. It is a rewarding experience worth all the efforts, thought and planning involved in it. Do not sit back and think that the present leaders can take us forward to a glorious future. No, they can only carryon. This is no doubt necessary. But the revolutionary changes that we seek can be achieved only by enthusiastic, well-disciplined thinkers. The changes that Gorbachev brought about in Russia have been made possible only by the courageous efforts of many dissidents who suffered untold hardships inflicted by the government. They persisted in propagating their views which in the fullness of time, Gorbachev has now accepted.
So though the present is a product of the past, don't sit down and say it is our fate. Every moment man has freedom to start a new way of life. For this, two things are unavoidable. First, the right thing must be chosen as our goal and for this, a capacity to think properly is necessary. Thereafter, instead of theorizing, you must have the heroism, the large-heartedness, the muscle necessary to live up to your ideals. Look at Prahlada. The eight-year-old boy stood firm against the might of the greatest tyrant-his father Hiranyakashipu. The meaning of the word 'Hiranyakashipu' is 'one who is wrapped in gold', meaning an utter materialist thinking only of money, wealth and power. He banned God in his kingdom and proclaimed himself as the God who only was to be worshipped. But Prahlada had full faith in God and the courage to suffer all the persecution of his father, until the Lord came in the form of Narasirnha to destroy Hiranyakashipu. So Prahlada by his efforts brought about the destruction of exclusively materialistic and secular policy and installed a higher culture.
So, whenever you want to bring about desirable changes, do not be swayed by propaganda. Think for yourself whether this system of pure materialism and secularism will take us to our cherished goals. With knowledge, start thinking and planning and if you have the heroism to strive, put forth your efforts to reach a greater goal. When Communism had ruled, the communists believed that the highest happiness belonged to them. But after twenty-five years of suffering and privation, things became worse and as they came to know of the relative prosperity in capitalistic countries, they began to long for a change. When the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait and saw the prosperity there as compared with the under-development in their homeland, their eyes were opened. They looted everything in Kuwait and took it to Iraq. Once the army realized the relatively poor conditions in Iraq, they refused to suffer any longer and made demands for improvement in their condition.
Everywhere in the world, wherever revolutionary changes have been brought about, it is the youth who have spearheaded the movement for change.
So, friends, it is only the youth that can rewrite the present history into a more pleasant and beautiful future. We may commit mistakes sometimes but then we must provide something for the future youth to do! So let the future youth correct us; as we are correcting the past, let them also have a past to correct. Thus, like a relay race, each generation tries its level best to reach out to the next generation to carry on the change.
Unfortunately during the last 500 years deterioration has set-in our country. Under the Mughal, Britain, French and other European rule we have suffered silently without doing anything for the country. We neglected our cultural heritage. We lost pride in ourselves, guided solely by short term selfish hands.
So, now we have to turn over a new leaf. We must learn to give up narrow selfishness and have a noble goal. It is not that an-entire generation will do this, but if the leaders and the educated class, with a newly inspired enthusiasm, come to live a nobler life, others will get inspired and follow. As the Gita puts it, consistency of purpose and a spirit of dedication and, if necessary, sacrifice, should characterize the new spirit.
- Swami Chinmayanand
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