Dear all,
Read this nice message.
The Supreme Need of the Hour: Love
New Year's Message 1st January, 1950.
By Sri Swami Sivananda
Is there a man whose heart will shed tears of blood at
the misery of even the meanest of God's creation? It
is in his heart--be sure--that the Lord dwells.
O Man! Years have come and gone! You are yet the same
old brute, the same abode of the same old cruel heart
which grabs and does not give. Renounce, serve, love!
Become good this very minute!
What have you learnt from the terrible tragedy which
shook the country from end to end? Would you still
lean back in your cushioned lounge and ignore the
misery of the poor, of the downtrodden, of the
ignorant masses, merely philosophising: "It is their
lot, it is their own Karma?" Have you not seen that in
the twinkling of an eye the rich man becomes penniless
and the pauper becomes a millionaire?
Come, plunge into selfless service. Serve all. Love
all. See your God in all. Renounce every penny that
you have in the service of the poor, in the
regeneration of the fallen. Rush to the aid of the
Lord that walks on the road with his begging bowl.
Hasten to the aid of the hapless and the helpless sick
and relieve their suffering. Greet the half-naked,
poverty-stricken God-in-human-form with a smile,
reverence and sympathy. Clothe the naked. Feed the
poor. Educate the illiterate. Nurse the sick. Raise
the downtrodden. Give of your best in their service.
Shame upon the perpetrators of violence, the Asuras in
human garb who massacre innocent men and women!
Gandhiji lived, loved and died for the sake of the
establishment of Ahimsa in the human heart. His life's
toil should not go in vain. It is a crime to allow it
to be neglected as mere ideology. The immortal glory
that Gandhiji achieved can be achieved by every one,
if only one is prepared to pay the price in the form
of loss of personal gains.
God has sent His messengers again and again to teach
humanity Divine love. To make this Message of Love
more prominent, He sends wars, famines, riots and
pestilences! Love shines sharply in contrast. Yet, how
long does it take for man to understand the Message of
Love!
It is not yet too late. O children of God! This
beastly nature is only an outward covering. Your
essential nature is Divine. Under the influence of
this ignorance-Anaesthesia you commit all sorts of
crimes. Your real nature is Purity, Wisdom and
Godliness. Come, wake up! Wait not for calamities to
put into your heart the wisdom which is available to
you in the life and teachings of the Sages of India!
Wake up at once, realise the folly of worshipping
Mammon and the glory of serving God.
Worship God not only in the temples and shrines, not
only in places of pilgrimage; but in every one you see
around you, in the poorest of the poor, in the
lowliest of the low, in the downtrodden, illiterate
masses, in the sick and the suffering. See the lord in
them and love them, express this love in the form of
service. This alone will make each one of you a real
MAN, nay, a Superman, or a Divine Personality!
It is the One Self or the One God alone that pervades
every atom of creation. If but every morning this
forms your first thought: "My own self it is that
pervades the universe", you will realise that it is
you yourself that suffer through every suffering man!
You will then become utterly unselfish and share with
the needy what you have and thus bring about a new and
glorious Age of Peace, Plenty and Prosperity.
All religious and spiritual organisations, social
service leagues and humanitarian institutions, should
convert themselves into Sevashrams for the
amelioration of the conditions of the poor--the
masses. Every one who can afford to, should contribute
his mite to these institutions and see that the poor
are raised to a normal standard of living.
Individually, every one should sympathise with, and
comfort, every man in distress, every man in need, and
rest not till he has been provided for. This is the
greatest service. It is only when the heart thus
expands that the Lord will be enshrined in it.
It is when every Indian heart is brimming with this
universal love that Mother India will assume the
motherhood of all nations of the earth and guide her
children in all parts of the world to limitless
happiness.
Let us all hail the New Year with a heart of Love! Let
us melt our differences and unite! Let our heart melt
at human suffering! May all be united! May all attain
God-consciousness in this very year! May there be
peace, amity, plenty and prosperity everywhere! May
His blessings be upon you all!