If I am not the body, the merciless destinies through which it is being dragged are also not mine. The endless changes that come to me—birth, growth, decay disease and death, all belong to the physical body, because ‘I’ the self am unborn. When there is no birth for Me there can be no death either, and, therefore no other changes such as growth, senility etc. can ever come to me. If I mistake any of these to be mine, it is unfortunately the tragic error of the limited ego in me suffering from the body consciousness.
Being other than the body, I am unattached to the sense-objects as well. If I am not the physical body or the sense organs, what then am I? A zero? A non-¬entity?
Am I then the mind? The mind is that substantial hallu¬cination of terrific force and irresistible might that we feel in ourselves when our thoughts flow. It is ever changing in its moods. The idiosyncrasies of the mind are its own creation. The mind flourishes on thoughts, and thoughts gurgle from my own desire, acquired from my perception and experience of objects extraneous to myself. When 1 am thus really something other than the mind, and when I realize that it is the illumination of my Self that gives the power of awareness to this inert matter, the mind, I cannot but remain perfectly unaffected by the eruption in that aspect of any physical structure. When I have awakened from my dream I no longer can mourn for the dream-child that died in my dream. I have ceased to identify myself with the mental emotions and so how can I, be any longer a victim of the onslaught of sorrow, fear etc., which are but the modi¬fications of my mind? I am without a mind.
In all conditions good, bad or indifferent, this “some¬thing” in our life—within us—has remained unchanged, and this is generally indicated by the word ‘I’. The
subject ‘I’ remains a changeless entity, common in all changes, experiencing them all. In each one of us it takes up different attitudes, at different places and at different times, such as child-hood, youth and old-age; waking, dream and deep-sleep; happy, unhappy, etc. In all such conditions, behind the very subject T, there is a common changeless factor, the Consciousness. This factor is, by its own nature, formless and changeless, depending upon which we have the constant experience of I…..I…….I……our individuality.
This subject in each one of us is a mere witness of the three states of Consciousness the waking, dream and deep-sleep states. In the waking state, it is ‘I the waker’; in dream it is again ‘I the dreamer’; and when fast asleep too, it is ‘I the deep-sleeper’. In these states of Con¬sciousness the T remains a mere witness. It neither undergoes any changes characteristic of these states, nor does it have any share in them. This I-ness gains vivid experiences of all the three different states. Let me give you an example to clarify the idea.

I, the individual going to Surat, Ahmedabad and Bombay, gather to myself three different experiences at the three different places. Let us say, at Surat I was loved, at Ahmedabad I was honored and at Bombay I was insult¬ed, Surat is not Ahmedabad. Surat and Ahmedabad are not Bombay. It was not at Surat, Ahmedabad and Bombay at one and the same time. The experiences of three different places, at the three different times are different, yet all these experiences are mine, because I was the common factor in all the three places and all the three times. This is so in the waking, dream and deep-sleep states also. The waker himself becomes the dreamer and the deep-sleeper and gains the experience of the dream and the deep-sleep. But during these changes in the states of consciousness, he himself never undergoes any change, but remains as a mere witness.
Atman being the witness of the three states of conscious¬ness, It is indeed, something other than the five-sheaths— the food-sheath, the vital-air-sheath, the mental-sheath, the intellectual-sheath, and the bliss-sheath. The Atman is not identified with, and therefore is never limited by, any of these sheaths. It is something other than them, know¬ing them and their individual involvements in the world around and within.

That faculty in me because of which Tarn able to know, constantly, all my experiences of waking, dream and deep-sleep is called the Atman or Self. By this faculty i am not only aware of the world of objects around me, but I am also equally aware of the equipments of knowledge within me and their main functions.

I know my intellect, the instrument with which I know other things. All my inner equipments (antah karana), are also objects of my experience from the stand-point of the Self. In my mind and intellect, where all activities are disturbances (vrittis), I am aware of them all. When there are no mental disturbances, I am equally aware of the absence of all (vrittis), as in deep-sleep. The agita¬tions are known. I am aware of not only my intellect and the thoughts in it, but also of the absence of thoughts. This knower, I, is “This”—the great Consciousness to be realized as the subjective Essence.

In each one of us it is this Consciousness alone which knows constantly the world of objects around us, as well as the intellect and its thoughts, nay, even the absence of thoughts. Remember the intellect can investigate only the presence of things; Consciousness can illumine their absence as well. This grand knowing Principle constantly enlivens us. It is the Self we talk of as “This”, the subject.

I am then that consciousness which illumines all this dead world of matter in and around me—the Absolute One; the Immutable Spirit that revels everywhere, which remains ever unattached. I am Pure Intelligence itself: I am that Higher and Imperishable Truth which is be¬yond all explanations and beyond the concept of time but within the experience of everyone when there is Self realization.

Religion is a privilege of man and not an instinct of the animals. To the animal, life is one round of eating, sleeping and mating. Man, even when he has food, shelter, clothing and recreation does not feel satisfied. He yearns to seek for a greater purpose in life. So long as he has not these minimum necessities of life— food, shelter, clothing and recreation—his entire per¬sonality strives for them. But once these are satisfied, he sits back as it were, to listen to the muffled voice of enquiry from within.
These questionings and innermost cravings of the soul come only to a full-grown man. I mean even among the bipeds we can recognize the animals; we have among us tigers, wolves, deer, serpents, scorpions, etc. Such men who are lowly evolved fail to listen to the doubts and despairs of the soul-quest from within. Having no such inner voice-less-woe, they need no remedy.
But to one who has evolved himself into a full-grown man, such cravings of the soul, flood his being and push him incessantly towards the limit of his understandings and feelings. In the unrest of the soul he comes to despair at the wonder and the majesty of the most intimate fact with him—Life. The questions he asks himself are: Where did I come from? Where do I go? Why have I come? Is life an empty and meaningless incident? Has life a purpose? Is there a mission in life?

Only a full-grown man, who has lived his days’ experiences intelligently and has throughout kept an alert critical attention upon the incidents of life, can attain an inner maturity in which he comes to feel the “soul’s unrest”. Religion is addressed to such an indivi¬dual. Religion explains, assures and guides him. It lends a purpose to his day to day existence, far more divine and nobler than mere eating, drinking, sleeping, laughing and weeping.

Every true religion contains two important limbs: (i) the ritualistic injunctions and (ii) philosophical sugges¬tions. The former alone is accepted generally as religion by many of us, but a religion (rituals, formalities etc.) without philosophy is superstition, and philosophy with¬out religion is barren. Both must go hand in hand. Philosophy reinforces the external practices of rituals and formalities and blesses them with a purpose and an aim. Together they bring out the full significance of religion.

Religion in its full significance has for its content a vivid discussion upon the goal of life and its nature. It is also a description of an elaborate system of spiritual practices by pursuing which men of all degrees can start, from their present stations in evolution, on a pilgrimage to the goal held out.

Vedanta deals vividly and elaborately with Truth. Its discussions, based upon the intimate and personal experiences of the seers, bring us to the conclusion that the supreme is the man himself and that man, by remov¬ing certain of his misunderstandings about his own identity; can succeed in recognizing himself as the eternal all-pervading truth. All true religions bring to the despairing man, struggling against his own bondages and limitations in life, the comfort and solace that he so badly needs.

The remedy is simple. We have only to turn inward. As it is, our entire attention is focused on the external material world and we seek there joy and peace. Naturally we miss them. The finite external objects cannot, by their very nature, yield for us our demand which is in fact eternal joy—a blissful satisfaction that shall be forever with us. Such a complete Ananda or Santi cannot be had out there. They can be had only in here—within each individual. “Turn within! Right about turn and you are face to face with what you are seeking”, is the saintly advice unanimously voiced forth by all the great religions of the world.

The external world of sense-objects has no real joy content. It seems to give us now and then a little joy; but this very sweetness soon gets putrefied to sourness and bitterness. In everyone’s experience all circums¬tances have in themselves an atmosphere of sorrow.

Religion promises no magical changes in the nature of the sense-objects or in the pattern of their arrange¬ments under various circumstances. The world will remain the same and the nature of the circumstances will continue to function according to the eternal law. Religion enables the faithful only to face life with a greater liveliness, and lends a psychological balance and a spiritual poise to the individual.

Understanding the real function of religion and the secret scheme of its blessings, we can approach it with the certainty of gain. What greater gift can we expect of any institution than a hearty presentation of the Philosopher’s Stone, which by its touch can convert all sorrows into joy, all failures into success and losses into gains ?,. A truly devoted heart does not go mad with power, become boastful of success, commit suicide at failures, murder in anger, suffer in jealousy, grow arrogant in wealth and despair in poverty. Under all conditions he is un-agitated. His heart is an ocean of peace, rest and joy.
Such a one amongst us mortals is a God man. He is a saint, a mahatma, a prophet. Such were all our great masters and such are all true men of religion. Religion promises us a world peopled with a generation of Sri Ramakrishnas, Vivekanandas, Shankaras, Buddhas, Christs and Mohamads. What more do we need?

I am what I am, a confused confounded entity. At one moment I am a sweet little thing, at another, a terri¬ble monster, because of the variety of gratifications of my physical demands of lusts, mental demands for emotio¬nal satisfactions and because of my perturbed intellect, tossed by its endless mischievous thoughts. Somehow, I am aware of all this. Yet I cannot get out of it. Why this helpless bondage? All these pernicious sorrows arise because I, the Atman, misunderstand myself to be the not-Self (an-atman).
Suppose in a drunken mood you misunderstand your¬self to be your own shadow. Terrible suffering must then start for you. You find that you are lying down on the road, and the traffic is incessantly passing over you. Your head is sometimes in the filthy, way-side gutter. You refuse to move because you are being dragged. Thus, all the sufferings of the shadow become your sufferings. A simple misunderstanding that you are your shadow becomes the source of a chain of terrible sufferings.
Similarly, the misunderstanding, “I am being anatman”, is the spring-board for all bondages and limitations that are suffered in voiceless agony by our personality. To end this misunderstanding would be redeeming at once our personalities from the encrustations of matter and its tyranny. One who is released from the tyrannies of matter is a God-man on earth—perfect, free, liberated totally from the weaknesses which characterize a mortal. God, apparently suffering the sorrows of persecuting matter is man.
In the dream when I forget my real nature, I identify with the things projected by me in the dream and suffer the consequences. The sufferings of the dream last only till I wake up. The moment I wake up and realize my real nature, all the sorrows of the dream end. When in a drunken state 1 forget my real nature, I keep the wrong relationship with the world around me, and consequen¬tly, I come to suffer. A mad man, because of some psychological changes in him, forgets himself, and starts behaving wrongly in the world around him. In the same manner I, who is God, the Para atman, the pure Self, not understanding myself, in the non-apprehension of my Real Nature, start creating misapprehensions. Then identifying myself with the not-self, which I am not, I come to suffer the pains of existence created by myself for myself.
This identification with the not-Self in each one of us is the cause of our life’s sufferings. In a cinema-hall, we iden¬tify ourselves with the hero or the heroine on the screen. We feel happy at their happiness and agony at their sorrows.

As a result of this bondage, this is nothing other than our identification with the not-Self; the Atman— which is never born nor ever dies, which is ever the same, Eternal, Pure, seems to suffer the pangs of an app¬arent birth and death. Such a fall from the height of an eternal and everlasting state of perfection to the ever-changing ephemeral state of imperfection is caused by this identification alone.
The ‘unreal’ is that which was not and that which shall never be, but only apparently exists. This is otherwise called an illusion. The body which was not there before birth and shall not be there after death, but is only tem¬porarily existent, must fall under the category of the ‘unreal’. But because of Man’s spiritual ignorance, and his consequent bondages, this body which is mortal, is considered by him as his real nature.
When this body is not only considered real, but in total identification with it, when a man asserts that the body alone is real, then there can be only one duty in life for him. That duty is to fatten, to nourish, to feed it and enjoy himself thoroughly. Here we have the true to life picture of what we are.
Think of the tragedy. You must attend to this body cons¬tantly, all the twenty-four hours of all the three hundred and sixty-five days of a year, nay, and one day more in a leap year. There is no escape. You must be with it all the time, without any holiday. An all-time-servant you become of your own body. You can have a release from your office, home, friends, society, —from everything, but not from this body-catering-mission in life.
Because of this indentification you must preserve this body, feed it, clothe it, treat it, when ill, and when necessary it must also get a blood transfusion or a heart transplant. It is not sufficient that we look after and preserve the body, but we must also run after all the ob¬jects desired by it—house, car, radio, air-conditioner, television and what not! ‘Why am I living so contentedly in this slavery?’ ‘Because this body is me. My body’s happiness is my happiness.’
Once we are under the hallucination that we are worms, we certainly become afraid of all insectivorous birds. This fear will vanish only when we are convinced that we are human beings and not worms. No matter how many times a psychiatrist tells us that are not worms, it will not help us if we do not realize that we are human beings.
Similarly, however much the Teacher may tell us that we are the Para atman, we may read and study books like the Vivekachoodamani, we may attend satsangs, and discuss in study groups, but deep down in ourselves we are convinced that we are this body only. Why? Because of the avidya, the non-apprehension of our Real, Divine, Spiritual Nature.
The Silk-worm spins fine threads from its own saliva and weaves a cocoon around itself. The cocoon becomes stronger and stronger until at last the worm gets en¬tangled in it and cannot come out. Similarly, once the misunderstanding that, ‘I am the body’ has arisen, this false notion makes endless demands for the preserva¬tion of the body. These demands multiply and they become so strong that the individual gets gagged and bound by them.
Under the circumstances, your personality becomes con¬ditioned by these endless demands and your essential vitalities, capacities and intelligence fail to bloom and express themselves as they get shackled and conditioned at all times by your past, which you have woven into ines¬capable patterns around yourself. All this arose from one the same spring-board—you forgot yourself. You lived all along, misunderstanding yourself to be the matter equip¬ment of BMI, the not-Self (anatman). In this condition, you come to experience sufferings. This is called bondage (samsara-dukham).

A problem in life is a challenge to be faced. The outer problems, created by the arrangement of happenings and the pattern of the available environment are all actually interpreted by the mind, judged by the intellect. Then only responses arise from us towards them. Behind the hands and the legs, we have a set of intricate and highly sensitive equipments which evaluate and judge the out world for us, and finally discriminate and decide what our outer equipment of action must do in response to the challenge ahead. These are the mind-intellect equip¬ments. The beauty and strength, smartness and alertness of the mind-intellect decide the quality of the individual’s performance in life; his success in life.
In order that his intellect may come to the right decision, it must have correct data. But the reading of the outer problem by our unbridled senses is often gnarled by the unsteady, confused and even severely disintegrated state of the mind. The mind gathers the sense reports and presents them to the intellect to decide how, as an individual, it should respond to the external challenge. When the mind is unsteady, the data presented becomes a confused, misinterpreted jumble, and the intellect, even if its decisions are right, is not effective in solving the problem as its decisions are based upon false data.
In short, if we do not care to cultivate a system of order in our inner equipment of experiences, and do not discipline the outer sense-organs of perception and action, then, like an untuned instrument, we will get but a clamor of noises, never the liquid melody, the dancing rhythm, the tilting notes and the stupendous harmony of a life lived dynamically, rich in its successes and achievements.
The subtle technique of re-tuning our shattered mind-intellect equipment is achieved through what is so famously known as Karma-yoga—the path of selfless dedicated activity.
When we perceive an object, or try to evaluate a situation, not only do the sense-organs bring in their reports and the mind compiles and presents them to the intellect for the final judgment, but the very ability to think, rationa¬lize, judge, etc., of the intellect is conditioned by a factor in us, which modern psychologists call the ‘Unconscious’. This Unconscious is composed of impressions the personality has gathered from its own thoughts and actions in the past. These impressions are called by the Hindu Rishis as Vasanas.
Thus if I am a drunkard, I have drink Vasanas, and so when t see a bottle of whisky, my reaction is to grab it immediately, while you, a perfect teetotaler, will turn your face and walk away in disgust. Later, I cannot complain that I was tempted by the bottle. Really speak¬ing, the whisky bottle has no such powers, else how could you walk away so easily?
These Vasanas in each one of us, gathered from the past, march out into their expression—first as a ‘desire’ in the intellect, then as a ‘thought’ in the mind, and lastly as an ‘act’ at the body level. Each one of us is thus a helpless expression of our own past—our Vasanas.
These Vasanas are to be intelligently exhausted or eli¬minated. They are first to be purified and then exhausted through appropriate actions.
When the Vasanas are healthy ones, the problems get easily solved by our correct evaluation of them and our apt counter-actions. Where the Vasanas have ended, problems also end.
Therefore, the apparent problems outside the individual’s environment, are but reflections ordered by the Uncons¬cious in him. The world is the final projection of the total Vasanas playing in life. Thus, world problems or national-problems are all essentially eruptions caused by the Vasanas in all the individuals put together. Through individual perfection alone can world perfection be achieved—this is the declaration of all scriptures. Now the question is, how best can we individually purify and ultimately redeem ourselves from the compelling en¬crustations of Vasanas? The technique advised in the Geeta is Karma Yoga—the way of performing all actions in an attitude of selfless dedication to a desirable goal.

Exploiters of religion have been making capital out of repeating the word Sraddha as their safest excuse for all problems spiritual; to clear which devotees may approach these men who pose themselves as guides in religion. Perhaps no other spiritual term has been so far badly handled by the priest-class and so profitably polluted by the laity in Hinduism as this word of healthy suggestions, Sraddha.
Invariably we find that the ordinary devotees are completely rendered, sometimes fanatical and often poorer, in their intellectual and mental growth, because of the unintelligent insistence of Sraddha translated as \”blind faith and unquestioned acceptance of any declara¬tion said to be divine.\”
Sankara tolls the death knell of this misunderstand¬ing when he explains Sraddha as that attempt at a clear intellectual appreciation by which an individual readily understands the secret depths of significance, the exact import behind the words of the texts as well as of the teachers.
The Pure Consciousness which is the core of the Reality in life, cannot be defined or expressed in words, but this supreme point of human evolution has been only indicated by the text of the scriptures. As such, an honest and sincere effort on the part of the student is unavoidable if the words indicating the Truth are to be correctly interpreted, understood and efficiently made
use of. This capacity at realizing the words of the Scriptures in all their suggestiveness is termed as Sraddha. One may say Sraddha is the belief in what we do not know so that we may come to know what we believe in.
A certain amount of Sraddha is even used by us in our everyday life. If in the material world, it is my Sraddha in the words of the poet that makes me see the face of beauty, it is my Sraddha in the strokes and in the hues on the canvas that makes me realize the experiences of the painter, if it is my Sraddha in a given prospect that gives me a glimpse of its message of beauty and innocence—if, in the gross outer life, Sraddha is so unavoidable, how much more it should be so in my attempt to understand the suggestive beauty, the indica¬tive message and the implied meanings of the pregnant words of the scriptures and of the teacher.
The special capacity of the human intellect, not only to know and appreciate the Sastra, but also, to absorb and assimilate the noble ideals, so completely as to bear upon all one\’s actions, is called Sraddha. It is that powerful, impelling force which springs forth spontane¬ously from within, and propelled by which all layers of personality in an individual act in their appointed fields. \”Faith\” is the content and the very essence of the equip¬ments of man\’s whole being. \”Faith\” gives the direction, the dash, and provides a destination for one\’s determina¬tion. Faith is seen in various fields of human endeavors — in man\’s physical indulgences (ahara), his dedicated activities (yajna), his self-denials (tapas), and his chari¬ties (daana).
Faith is of three kinds, according to the nature of the temperament (gunas) which the individual entertains in himself. (Sattwic, rajasic or tamasic or good, passionate and dull or divine, undivine and diabolic). Sraddha determines the texture of our impressions (vasanas) in us, which, in their turn, command our view-of-life. Our desires, thoughts and actions are charted by our view of life. Naturally, an individual\’s physical activities, .psycho¬logical behaviors and intellectual make up are all order¬ed by the type of Sraddha he has come to maintain in himself and if the Sraddha is of the wrong type, the entire expression of his personality in all walks of life and in every field of endeavor, can only be ugly. As his inner disposition, so will be the man. The more an individual identifies himself with his physical sheath, the more crystallized becomes his ego, under the influence of his inner disposition.
The essence of \’Faith\’ lies in the secret energy of the ego with which it holds on to its convictions, to reach a definite, chosen end, by well thought-out and entirely self-planned means. Each devotee ultimately reaches the seat of his devotion, if he consistently and with Sufficient intensity, devotes himself to its attainment.

The fundamental cause of all confusions is man’s “non-apprehension” of Reality called in Vedanta philosophy as “ignorance” (ajnana v, which also includes all vacillations of the mind, doubts and despairs, dejections and hesitations, fears and weak¬nesses. It is because of man’s false attachments with the objects of the world as available for him when he looks out into Truth from the parapet walls of his body and mind and forgetting his own real nature as the All-Pervading Consciousness, he comes to misunderstand himself to be the matter envelopments which are nothing but thought-created encrustations around the, Divine in him. When perceived thus through the prism of the body, mind and intellect he sees the Truth splashed and splintered into endless plurality, and these objects give a delusory enchant¬ment to the senses and the mind. To satisfy these urges of his physical body and his inner mind the individual runs after the objects. Necessarily such a self-deluded personality having misunderstood himself becomes the sansaric ego-centre who is a victim of his own ignorance.

The whole world is frantically searching for a message, a revealing light, a knowledge that will impart a meaning and purpose for life.

The Communist and the Capitalist, the developed and the developing, the scientist and the layman, the materialist and the idealist — knowingly or unknowingly, all are neck deep in this great research.

In his mad rush for material progress and sensual living man has apparently lost his inner essence. In his false preoccupation with social problems and economic issues man has lost sight of himself and his personality waned. Undoubtedly the great grand issue of the day is this – Can man rediscover himself? Can his personality be rehabilitated? Can man be rekindled with a new faith and a purpose in life?

An idea that cannot comprehend the living issues of the age and an idealism that does not string from the human experience is useless. Mere scholarship that does not come to the service of fellow human beings is monstrous. The ideas of the past that are not amenable to be refashioned and relieved according to the needs of the times are a dead weight on humanity. At the same time a generation that is cut off from the past is like a rudderless ship aimlessly floating in a tumultuous ocean.

Is there any way out of this chaotic mess that man finds himself in? Is there anything that can instil hope, confidence and love for a creative dynamic life? Can spirituality come to the rescue of mankind where materialism and atheism failed? Even mighty communist countries in the pinnacle of their contentless glory are thinking on these lines. Religion and spirituality is staging a thunderous came back. The Upanishads and Bhagawad Geeta, the Quran and the Bible are increasingly read and contemplated upon by men of intelligence and wisdom. Are we aware of this resurgence of spirituality or are we still living in the stupid ‘asuric’ belief that religion is the opium of mankind?

Arise and awake, let us be partakers of this spiritual awakening. Let the message of the scriptures flood the bosom of mankind. Let us be integrated and spiritually awakened human beings first; and the rest will follow automatically.

All through the last twenty-five years Chinmaya Mission has been working as a platform for all those who are enthusiastic to take part in this great spiritual awakening. Every member of the mission is a brick on whose righteous living is built the grand edifice of the great vision that the mission represents. Let us be worthy of the mission and the time-tested culture of the Upanishads.

As I sit in Tapovan Kuti, my table piled high with Mission work and correspondence, I pause for a moment and listen to the sweet melody of Mother Ganga. Slowly the mind’s eye lifts up and I can see her in one glance, as she trickles forth from the eternal snows of Gomukh; runs, curls, gurgles; gushes down the mountains, broadens in the valleys and, slowing down majestically, merges into her destination – the all-embracing ocean. As if she were going from youth to old age all at once, forever the same and forever changing. A perfect example of the lessons of life that we can learn from all around us.

Life, unfortunately, does not come with a prescription on how it is to be used. We all must make our own choice independently and intelligently. Man is ever striving for harmony and perfection. How great he would be if only he had more control over himself!

We are exploring outer space and are ready to plant our flags on the moon but we have not yet managed to explore our within. We have, to a great extent, mastered nature, but we have not yet mastered ourselves. We have material goods and comforts to hedge us from the vicissitudes of life, but to no avail. Because we look for happiness in the wrong direction how can there be any lasting value in this ever-changing world, dancing around us! So we get discouraged and feel as miserable sinners. But the Halls of Vedanta have room even for miserable sinners. How great she must be! And such is her glory that she knows no sins — only mistakes, and mistakes can be corrected.

Every philosophy must necessarily not only expound its theory but also show us how to reach the goal else it is empty daydreaming. We must know the concept of Reality, the higher Truth. We must find our place in it, and philosophy becomes complete only if it can teach us how to strive to reach the peaks.

Religion is the science of life. It is not for the animals. It is not for those who live barely removed from that level. They regard it with suspicion. They consider anyone with a trace of spirituality as peculiar or odd; yet they envy them for the inner peace and happiness they can see in them and all around them. This is not gained by book learning but by practice and application. Anyone can gain it — it is there for the taking. Make it yours!

Today our glorious heritage is buried under the debris of matter and machines. But it is not dead. Unearth it silently, secretly, diligently, tirelessly. Discover the changeless substratum of the ever changing. Come to realise that you are not this bit of flesh, this bundle of emotions, this confusion of thoughts. Find the highest in and through life. Think, reflect, meditate. Withdraw your energies from their various fields of dissipation and employ them in the search for truth. The search is arduous, the path is rough and difficult. But the Ultimate Goal is yours by right. Let the words of the rishis spur you on in your adventure Divine. Let the sacred texts be your beacon light. Pursue the path not only by studying but by assimilating the ideas and coming to live them.

There is no better time than the present. Let us start, here and now!