The present condition of Students and Youth

The life of today's modern students has no link to what is good and what is really useful to them. Students, who are supposed to be of help to the weak and down trodden and serve society, entangled in a number of problems themselves, they are causing trouble to society. This is not the mistake of the students, it is squarely the mistake of the education system. Government has appointed a number of committees from time to time to transform the education system. Right from the times of Morarji desai, till today, the committees continue to be formed. But, no one knows what the decisions and resolutions of these committees are and what is happening. in the end,what is the use of committee, they 'come for tea'. The committees are formed for their own comforts. The thought of keeping in view the future of the student and to mould them so that they shine as sacred citizens of the country in future is not seen in anyone. You should shine as ideal citizens. Instead of becoming noble ideal students, you are victims of desires. It is not desires that are important, it is ideals that are essential. Students, who should live with noble thoughts, are entertaining narrow thoughts. Students do not understand what humanity is.

Students should develop common sense

Therefore, to begin with, students should participate in those actions that will are essential to them in their daily life. We should develop the inherent general knowledge and common sense. It is the practical knowledge which is most important. In today's modern education, only familiarity with books is seen. In this, there is not an iota of fragrance. Because of this type of education, today, in this world, many people take to wrong paths, bad habits, bad company, bad deeds and waste their lives.

Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are

A tree stands still when there is breeze but sways when there is a breeze. What is the reason behind its swaying? It is not the innate nature of the tree but the influence of the external forces. Similarly, what is reason for the unsteady mind? The reason is the type of company that one keeps and the environment that one is surrounded with. Hence the saying: “tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are!!” Therefore when one makes good friendships and keeps good company then one can have good thoughts.

Youth should have more patience: With analogies

Human mind is completely polluted due to cinema, TV, and radio. All the sacred qualities latent in man are polluted by following the wrong path. Hence the divine power within him has become weak and feeble. A small example to illustrate this: A mosquito sits on one’s nose. At first one just brushes it aside. The mosquito comes again and again to test one’s patience. Second time around one waves it aside strongly. By the third time one is ready to wage a war against the mosquito. One has become so feeble that one is unable to bear even a small mosquito on one’s body. Man has lost the strength and patience to fight against the puny mosquito. How weak has man become?!! The ancients did a lot of penance. There were anthills growing on them with ants all over them, animals moved about them, snakes crawled over them, but in spite of it the sages never wavered or gave in. That was the strength that the ancient humans possessed. Today, man has become weak; if anyone says anything against him, he cannot bear it. Why has man lost his peace? Without such patience what can man achieve? Youth needs patience today. One must be able to bear and be peaceful. Without peace one cannot be happy. Therefore one must develop peace and calm. How can one get peace? Peace can be attained only by inculcating divine thoughts. Without patience one cannot achieve anything. When someone accuses, why should one retaliate? One might say that the other person is bad so he is accusing, but accusing the other makes one also a bad person. So how can that person, alone, be called bad? What right does one have to call another bad? If the other person criticises, let him. The person criticising is only helping as one criticises one’s body oneself. What does it matter who criticises the body, which is like a water bubble? One must find the faults in oneself and should not go by what others say. Criticisms shouted loudly go into the air and those that are done within stay within. The criticisms never reach one. Then why should one develop such weakness? Youth must realise this truth. Developing hatred towards the accuser, seeking vengeance and destroying the society around should not be done. Today one can find parties in every town, city and village. What is the reason? It has become a disease of weakness. And because of that disease there is restlessness in the world. “Let anyone say anything. What do I bother? What do I care about people talking about faults that are not there in me? Those do not belong to me.”- One must stand by that self confidence. Swami gives a small example of Himself to iterate the point. The criticism, that Swami is crown haired, made by somebody in far off village or town will reach Swami as He truly has a mop of hair. But the criticisms made in His presence that Swami is bald headed does not reach Swami as Swami does not have bald head. There is no point in fighting with the person. This is the true path. If the criticisms are true then one has to accept them. When there is no fault in oneself then one need not heed to any criticisms. Such self confidence is lacking in the youth today. Developing self confidence leads to self satisfaction. The whole world may criticise one, one need not bother. One should not fear when the fault pointed out is not present in one. People are like the cawing crows and so one must not give room to agitation.

Do not pride yourself of young age: Message to youth

Students must realise this concept of love. Unfortunately the students today allow this love to be diverted in different directions thereby are subjected to agitations. The stage of youth is not permanent; it comes in the middle and leaves like the passing clouds. Hence one must not pride oneself of the youth and spoil one’s life. The stage of youth is very sacred. Students are trying to waste the sacred phase of youth. Man is wasting the valuable humanness in pursuit of momentary pleasures. This is stated by Shankara too: “Maakuru dhana jana yavvana garvam, harathi nimesha kala sarvam.” Many agitations affect during the phase of youth. One must try to control these agitations by chanting the Lords name during the times of agitation and think that: “This is not the kind of quality fit for my age. This is merely a passing cloud which comes and passes off. My life is permanent.” All the thoughts are like the clouds and the heart is the sky. The mind that is likened to the moon and the intellect that is likened to the Sun are present in the sky of the heart. The clouds of thoughts come in the sky. Thick clouds fill the sky during the stage of youth. The sun and the moon are not seen due these thick clouds. How long are they hidden? All the clouds are passing clouds. One must be patient for some time and not be in hurry. “Taste makes waste, waste makes worry, so don’t be in a hurry’. One must never be in haste in this stage. One must always be peaceful and calm.

Youth should giveup impure thoughts and develop pure heart

So the young men and women should make an effort to know the sort of life they want to lead and the purpose of life. Youth must try to cleanse the pollution in the heart then alone the heart can be filled. An empty tumbler can be filled anything. That head which is stuffed with dirt cannot be filled with anything. Unless the head is emptied one cannot fill it with spirituality. Therefore one should empty one’s head of the vices and wicked thoughts. One must strive to experience the pure heart and selfless service. One should be ready to do service anywhere and everywhere. Bhagawan says, ‘hands in the society, head in the forest’ and that is the real rest!! One may participate in any service but one should never fill one’s head or heart with anxieties or trivialities. Youth must develop unwavering mind and steady vision from this moment so as to express the divinity.

Youth should never leave ideals

Young men and women are the protectors, sustainers and leaders of this world. Youth must make their behaviour sacred and experience the love of God. Bhagawan is always teaching these ideals. One must never give up on the ideals. But in today’s world one has many desires but one is forgetting the ideals. One is increasingly becoming selfish but forgetting to serve; one is becoming attached to the body but is forgetting the sense of patriotism; in this scenario how can one lead one’s life? One may forget to think about one’s body but should never forget one’s country. Ancient sages and elders lead ideal lives, crowned the spirit of sacrifice, and were bound to uphold justice and welcomed truth with full faith in the spirit of sacrifice. That was the practice among the elders then and hence they were never afflicted by hardships or worry; they lead a peaceful and secured life. On the other hand man today leads a life full of worry and misery. The reason is that today man lacks the spirit of sacrifice, righteousness and truth; and one cannot expect to lead a peaceful life without having those qualities. Hence the young men and women of today should crown the spirit of sacrifice in their hearts, wear the crown of justice, and wield the sword of truth; that is the weaponry that would protect the body and the country. Whole world is at ruin due to absence of such ideals today. Everyone pretends to be happy but the heart is full of misery and anxiety. Therefore everyone must express the latent happiness and not hate anybody but love God. When one has love for God one will not hate anyone.

Youth shouldn't forget the good and leave God

In the spiritual path it is said, ‘Anoraneeyan, mahato maheeyan’ - God resides in the smallest of the small and in the biggest of the big. One must never change the imminent and latent divinity under any circumstances. One may prosper abundantly, One may ride horses and elephants, One may be blamed as madcap, One may be praised by all, but Never forget the good, Never give up on God!! One must always remember two things clearly and firmly- never forget the good and never give up God under any circumstances. One must uphold this firmly. This needs to be developed particularly in the young men and women.

Youth have the incurable disease of Ego

Young men and women today, prone to the effects of their age lose all patience and have no sense of forgiveness. Therefore there is a wide scope for jealousy, ego and hatred. Embodiments of Love, young men and women!! Today, in this world, there is an incurable disease in everyone. It may be less in some and more in others. There is difference in the quantity but not in the quality. What is that disease? That incurable disease is the sense of ‘Ego’. The disease of ego cannot be cured by any school of medicine. In the world today man looks afflicted with so many diseases. Of the entire diseases ego is the worst. Ego is born out of ignorance. This ignorance is due to indiscretion. In order to get rid of the ignorance one must get rid of spiritual ignorance; when these two are got rid of only then the ego can be vanquished. What does one pride about? Young men and women!! There are two paths here. To vanquish ego one has to put two questions to oneself. The whole world is a very big globe. In this vast world, India is a small place. In India, Andhrapradesh is a small place. In Andhrapradesh, Ananthapuram district is still smaller. In this district of Ananthapuram, Prashanthi Nilayam is even smaller. In Prashanthi Nilayam, how big and what is one?? It is sheer ignorance for the little and subtle man, in comparison to the vast world, to be egoistic. When one thinks spiritually, ‘Isavaasyamidam jagath’- the whole world is filled with God, ‘Sarvam khaluvidam brahma’- everything is divine, one can find divinity all over. God dwells in everyone. When one recognises this unity in divinity, is there any scope for one to pride? The same divine source is latent in everyone. One can see so many bulbs here. Bulbs are different but, the current flowing through them is one. When once one knows this truth one is not mindful of the differences. In the spiritual path, one must be aware of the truth that all are but instances of the same divine light. And from the worldly point of view, one must always be aware that one is but a tiny speck in the vast cosmos.

Young men should develop the spirit of forbearance

One’s soft tongue gets bitten by the sharp teeth around. Is one giving any punishment to the teeth just because the tongue is hurt? No. Why is it so? It is so because both the teeth and the tongue belong to one. Likewise, one must try to pardon those that may hurt or cause harm. The spirit of forgiveness is very important among the young people. The youth is generally hot headed and react with fury and anger to anyone speaking against them. It is a big mistake. It is not a human quality. One must try to resolve things with peace and patience. Forbearance is truth, Forgiveness is dharma. Patience is Veda, Forbearance is non-violence. Forbearance is the sacred ritual, it confers happiness on everyone. It is everything all over the cosmos!! This spirit of forgiveness must be cultivated and practiced by the youth. Practice of such forbearance is true dharma, righteousness. One must tread on this path of righteousness to be a true human.

Youth should render selfless service to society

“The ignorance, due to lack of fear of sin, The absence of love for God, The lack of human values in man, Makes the world lean on revolution for peace!!” What is the main cause for this revolution world over? There is no fear of sin today and have no love for God either. How can one expect to be at peace when these two are absent? Therefore one must, first of all, have these two namely- fear of sin and love of God. Man is born in society, grows in society, earns name and fame in society and learns many skills in the society and develops intelligence and gets reputation for being intelligent. Where did man get all these things? From the society man gets all these things. But have anyone of the young men and women thought of showing gratitude to the society from which they got the name and fame? What service is the youth rendering to the society in return for the good things received? How is one showing one’s gratitude to the society? These questions when put to one self, derive no answers. This is a big mistake. Every human being must possess the quality of gratitude. Having being the beneficiaries one must show gratitude. As an expression to one’s gratitude, one should render selfless service to the society; it is one’s foremost duty towards society and a form of service or ‘seva’.

Youth must realize the value of time

Time is most important and highly valuable in life. But this time is wasted in abundance by men and women; youth must not waste time but use it properly. By wasting time life too is wasted. Hence one must use time diligently.

The welfare of the world depends on youth

The prosperity and welfare of the future rests on the behaviour of youth of this world. The world will be an ideal place to live when the youth maintains high code of ethics and character. The bygone days will never come again. River Yamuna cannot come back when once it merges in the vast ocean. A fruit that is well chewed, eaten and swallowed cannot be brought back in its form. But man is just spending his days engrossed in desires and wants unmindful of what future has in store for him. Just as the rays of the Sun reduces the water by transforming the water into vapour, likewise man is also not able to realise the diminishing of his life span day- by- day.

Swami has placed all hope on Youth

A great many people who are educated, who are in charge of education and who are in responsible positions are asking questions such as: what does religion mean, what is Indian culture, what ethics it stands for and what is morality? By asking such questions and by displaying ignorance of the basic tenets of our religion, they are confusing the minds of the young students. It is clear from their questions that their knowledge has been derived only from books and can be described as bookish knowledge. They do not seem to have had any Divine experience at all in their lives. Such is the state of our guardians. I hope that the students will conduct themselves in a manner that will open the eyes of those who are in charge of education. All my hopes and aspirations rest on the conduct of young people. Young people of today have a great chance and a unique opportunity of setting right the future of this country. Thus, by giving you the opportunity, during these summer classes, of revitalising the dharma and sacred culture of this country, which have their origin in the Vedas and which have lived through very ancient times, we will help you to restore the reputation of this country to its original place, bringing glory to yourselves and to your country. This is my firm resolve.

Youth should develop self-confidence

Every youth must make an effort to generate confidence in himself and he can then enjoy happiness and bliss. He should then be prepared to sacrifice for the good of others. This will lead him to self-realization.

Bad behaviour of students in present times

Today, one does not have the awareness necessary to respect even one’s parents who have been responsible for bringing him up, nor the knowledge of how to conduct oneself in the presence of elders. Many young persons do not know what clothes to wear and when. Should people who do not possess this elementary knowledge be called educated people? If you respect your elders, your parents, your teachers and keep up the sacredness of these relationships, you will be respected in the future. If you do not respect your elders, others will simply ignore you.

Your connection must be heart to heart and love to love

You have behaved in an excellent way, with good habits and good conduct all these four days. At times there were certain disturbances due to emotions and excitement. You must curb those tendencies. If you control your emotions you can be ideal. Talk less. Know the truth. Grow in sacredness. Live your life happily and blissfully. We say ‘happy, happy’, what is happiness? Nothing gives us permanent happiness in this world. Things come and go just like the passing clouds. Permanent happiness is with God only. It is a connection of heart to heart and love to love. This you should develop. This would be the true proof of your devotion and sincerity. You have Bhagawan’s blessings in abundance. Bhagawan wants you to lead a peaceful, happy, blissful life and grow in steadfastness, sincerity and devotion and brings His divine discourse to a close.

Youth should consider Bhagawan's message as a sacred dictum

Never doubt anything. Develop faith in God. Develop and grow in service. One can redeem one’s life through service. Consider these words of Bhagwan as sacred. You must teach others. If, every person teaches and spreads the message of Bhagwan to hundred each, then the country will also prosper. Like this you go on adding then the whole world will become one and have the principle of unity and oneness.

Practice what you learnt in Prashanthi Nilayam

Students! Young men and women!! Your education is not true and great learning; true learning is acquiring the knowledge of the Divine. When one masters the knowledge of the Divine all other worldly learning comes easily. So, for the past three to four days you have been in Prashanthi Nilayam learning many sacred things. Contemplate and recapitulate the things learned here, render service to the society, thereby improve your devotion and make your lives worthwhile. It is no use if your devotion lasts only till you are in Prashanthi Nilayam. Your devotion and sincerity should follow you where ever you go like a shadow. Your shadow will never leave you; likewise, the bliss of the spirit should follow you. Once in a while you should recall that you had all gathered here in Prashanthi Nilayam, learned new things and heard Bhagawan and share those things with each other. By recollecting and recalling the things learned here, there is bound to be an improvement and development in you. Cows, on entering the green pastures, eat the grass. They eat very fast. But after reaching the shed they settle down and masticate the food, chew it well and digest it. Likewise you have eaten the teachings of Swamy very fast. After going to your respective places you should recall, recapitulate and contemplate on the teachings of Swamy and digest them. Then alone will the food taken here in Prashanthi Nilayam give you nourishment and strength and in this nourishment lies the utmost satisfaction.

Swami on the blessed opportunity of attending the conference

Out of so many youngsters spread all over the world, you, who could gather are very, very lucky!! Do not waste this opportunity that has been bestowed on you. Bhagawan is with you where ever you go! Bhagawan will take care of all your difficulties!! With all the courage, conviction and divine thoughts serve the society. You may suffer some loses but never give up service. Things come and go. So even Vedanta says, “Be alike to joy and sorrow!” Profit and loss, joy and sorrow come and go, never fear these things, contemplate on God continuously.

How to serve in a village

When ten of the youngsters go to a village for service, how should they conduct themselves? They should be very silent, peaceful and with a smile. One can smile but should not laugh loudly. They should not talk loudly disturbing the environment. When one gives into the loud banter and laugh, the villagers may think that a gang of rowdies has come to their village and will be fear stricken. So they should not get a bad name. So,they should go with all humility and not engage in loud talk or bad looks. When one starts to work, there would be no need to talk. The one who talks will not work. The one who works will not talk. One should always remember this. A true worker will not talk while working, for, one cannot work while talking. Therefore, one should start a new chapter and learn to live purposefully hereafter.

Do service; Lead a simple life: Message to youth

One need not spend money in order to do service. To the extent possible one should spend less money and do more service. One may be wealthy, yet one must lead a simple life with high thinking. This must be reflected even in the way one dresses, it should be simple and devoid of pomp and show. When one gives in to pomp and show, there will be ego. So, one should have simple dress, simple life and simple living. One should be clean, healthy and respectful in the society. One needs to dress accordingly. One’s behaviour should also be sacred. One’s heart must clean and pure like the unblemished white dresses one wears.

Youngsters should talk less

Today’s youngsters should talk less. One can experience in abundance the sweetness in talking less. In the society people admire the person who talks less and has a good reputation. There are people who talk continuously, who are labelled as ‘big bore’ and are avoided. An incessantly talking person gets named as a boring person and his company is not appreciated. Surely one also gets a bad name for being talkative. “Limited talk is pleasant! Incessant talk harms the mind!” Therefore at this age one can develop many sacred things.

Swami on the behaviour of youngsters in colleges

How does this begin among youngsters? They go to a co-ed college where boys and girls come to get education. There is nothing wrong in going to a co-ed college. It is not wrong as long as one has control over oneself. But today one’s senses are like a break-less car and so it is better to stay away from such colleges. At one time or the other one’s looks are bound to waver. At first it starts with looking, then progress on to smiling, which then leads to talking. Talking will lead to writing, then on to friendship, ultimately resulting in relationship. Looks is the main cause for the relationship. Hence Surdas said, “O Lord! Everyone has eyes! Are they able to see you? They see all the crooked things and have narrow vision of life. Therefore eyes are those that see you.” One has ears, but they are engaged in listening to gossip and plain talk but not in listening to the glory of the Lord. What should one's ears listen to? One should listen to those things that are auspicious and sacred; ears are meant for that purpose and not to listen to gossip. Therefore, one’s thoughts will be pure and sacred when one exercises control over one’s senses.

Youth are wasting the energy latent inside

A boy prayed to Swami, “Swami! Give us the energy.” What energy? Do you need the energy to watch TV or a video or to see a movie? There is lot of energy among young men. Three fourths of the energy is wasted. But this waste seems tasty to you. No, it’s a big mistake. The power inherent in us is not found in anything else. Diamonds, gold, land is valued more in the world, but when one enquires clearly, one finds that man is the most valuable. ‘Men are more valuable than all the wealth of the world!’ It is the man who buys the diamond or the gold or the land. Diamond, gold etc are buy able material objects, but the buyer is man. When there is no buyer, the object loses its value. One must develop the conviction that one has all the capacity and potentiality and have faith that one is greatest of all.

With courage involve yourselves in God's service

Youngsters! You are human beings! You are the children of God! You are the reflection of God! God declares, “You are all parts of the Divine! You are my reflection! You and I are one!” Being the embodiments of the Divine, why should one fear? Why should one feel shameful to repeat Lord’s name? Why should one step back from spreading the message of God? One should not do that. With all the courage render service; thereby one will not only make oneself sanctified but others too!

Youth's misbehaviour in day to day life

Youngsters today feel offended to salute others with folded hands publicly. They bend heads and hide while participating in nagarsankeerthana. They adorn their foreheads with the dot of vibhuthi at home, but wipe it off when they go out. What a strange life!! What a dreadful life!! Why should one be afraid of the world? Why be afraid of others? Why should one be afraid to do good things? You are not committing any mistake!! You are not entering into wrong company!! Why be afraid to chant the glory of the Lord? In doing so the human life becomes weak. One should never become a weakling. A weakling cannot achieve even a simple task. One is ever ready to commit wicked deeds. Why should one step back when it comes to doing good deeds or being in good company? This is the big weakness in the modern man!

Youth is golden age

This age is golden age. If one wastes this golden age, one will be ruining one’s future. When the sapling is straight, the tree will also be straight! So Bhagawan says, “Start early, drive slowly, and reach safely!” It is a very good time to start. This is the time of seedling. At the seedling stage if it grows straight, the rest also will follow. Hence one should make use of this age diligently.

Youth should develop discipline

Young men and women! You are all very, very good, but you should know the discipline and follow well. In following the discipline you should see that the sacred time is never wasted. How are you wasting your time? In clapping for everything whether it is mysterious and wonderful or not. This type of applause does not carry any value with it any longer. Human being has got sacred value. Whatever he does should carry a value. You should follow this discipline and also make others follow it. It is this discipline that is lost to the world today! They do not know what discipline is! They sit in an assembly, clap for every word they hear from their leader- this is a bad habit. This is not proper and is wastage of time. A moment lost is something valuable lost in life. We should not waste even a single moment of time. Therefore, we should spend every moment of life sacredly. When can we have such a discipline? When do you acquire that? At this age, most important and dear to us like life is that of ‘character’. This character which is our very life should be taken care of properly.

Youth should possess the qualities of discipline, devotion and duty

The human being must have the main human qualities. The three qualities of ‘Sathwa’, ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’ present in nature, are also present in human beings born out of nature. These three qualities begin with the letter ‘D’. ‘Devotion’ is the first one, the second one is ‘Discipline’ and ‘Duty’ is the third.

Feelings behind actions are important

Therefore, the experience is greater than imagination or feeling. You may feel that you are one with strength and capacities. It is also a form of an action. It ends with that accomplishment. But the feeling within, unifies the diversity and plurality. So the good prompting of good feelings and sentiments should be entertained. More than the deeds and accomplishments, the feeling and motivation is more important. Students! Here or anywhere, you should have same the noble ideas and sacred thoughts.

Be physically and mentally fit

Today we have sports and games, You should never consider them as worldly, physical acts. You should consider them as acts of morality, righteousness and spiritual deeds. One is a true student when he achieves excellence in the fields of morality, spirituality and righteousness. We should not merely struggle for physical strength only but we should strive hard for mental strength too.

Students should have noble qualities

Students! Boys and girls! The music, sports and games have been very successful because of your bubbling enthusiasm and your dynamism. In fact for the whole world, youngsters are a role model. Virtues are most important. The mighty power among youngsters lies in the heights of nobility, character and also that of perfect understanding. Students today can achieve everything. In fact, we have not been publicizing or sharing this important thing. If we accomplish that, the rest would be accomplished.

Message to youth by Bhagawan

Youngsters of today are going to be the future leaders. Young men and women are going to maintain the prosperity and affluence of the society in future. The welfare of the country depends on youngsters. Young men and women should have all noble features, good sentiments, virtues and sterling character. With all sacred thoughts, they would be able to achieve and accomplish anything they undertake.

Follow the culture and tradition of Bharath

You young people should clean your minds, develop pure ideas, and take this opportunity to see what sweetness there is in understanding the Divine bliss. You must dedicate your lives to practicing and propagating ancient Indian culture. When you go out of this summer school after one month, you should be able to re-establish the glorious traditions of our country and be messengers of peace for the rest of the people. That you have joined the summer school is not a matter of satisfaction for us. We will feel happy only when you are able to practice what you learn during this one month. You must help maintain the reputation of our country. I bless you that you may be able to do so.