MESSAGE FROM HIS HOLINESS SWAMI RAJARSHI MUNIJI
Brothers and Sisters!
Jay Bhagwan.
You might be aware that Lord Lakulish, an incarnation of Lord Shiva and the Prime Guru of our spiritual lineage, blessed me by appearing before me in 1993. At that time he had said: “Rajarshi! I wish to give you a special command. Now that you have become the successor in my spiritual lineage after Swami Kripalvanand, you must undertake the work of propagating the principles of yoga, Bhakti (devotion), Jnan (knowledge) and Karma (action) throughout the world. In this way mankind will learn the principles and practices of the Sanatan Dharm (eternal spiritual truths) which will be universally acceptable. Without acceptance of these, the world community cannot experience peace. Now you must undertake the responsibility of conducting an enlightenment campaign for the revival of spiritual culture”. After that, I made a firm resolve to carry out the execution of this command. For this, I established Life Mission having the following objectives:
i. Promoting the universal brotherhood of mankind with an understanding that the whole world is one family (Vasudhaiva kutumbakam).
ii. Spreading spiritual enlightenment and moral awakening among peoples everywhere in the world, by propagation of yoga and spiritual discipline.
iii. Working for the betterment of humanity through the instrumentality of love and selfless service.
Any culture is born out of some central dominant thought among the people. All currents and cross currents in the life of the people are guided by that central thought. To a culture, its central thought is what the soul is to the body. The soul is responsible for the life in the body. If the soul is culture, the body is civilization. The strength or weakness of the body, i.e. civilization, depends upon the soundness of the soul, i.e. the central thought of a culture. This means that the culture is more important than the civilization. In order that a civilization might survive, there should be a sound central thought of culture. The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, etc. have been annihilated in the absence of any vigorous central thought of culture. Indian civilization too passed through periods of turbulence and conflict and also remained under the yolk of foreign domination for centuries. But the Indian Sanatan (eternal) culture could neither be crushed nor be brushed aside. It still survives because of a sound central thought.
What is this central thought? The central thought of Indian Sanatan culture is the concept that ‘the world is one family’. Both Manusmriti and Yajnavalkyasmriti proclaim: ‘Udaaracharitanam tu Vasudhaivam kutumbakam’, that is ‘for the noble minded people the whole world is like one family’. The Sanskrit word ‘Udar’ means ‘noble, dignified, exalted or enlightened’. So here the word ‘Udaracharit’ means ‘a noble minded person who has exalted or enlightened sense of discrimination’. He is able to discriminate between what is permanent and what is impermanent, what is moral and what is immoral, and what is real and what is unreal. A person with exalted discrimination thinks: ‘if material prosperity and pleasures exist today but are no more tomorrow they are not everlasting. So pleasures and wealth cannot be the be-all and end-all of human existence. In the panorama of human existence, it is the moral mountain that should stand out against the skyline. It should also be remembered that after climbing the mount of moral awakening, the spiritual ascent still remains to be done. If reality is not this ephemeral world but the spiritual world beyond, then the right path to be pursued here is to perform selfless actions without attachment to their fruits’. This explains the central thought of Indian Sanatan culture. Life Mission’s endeavor is to initiate as many people in the world as possible into the light of the central thought through selfless service.
In the ancient Indian sanatan (eternal) culture, there are broadly two different ways of life that a human being may choose. One is called Preya, the path of pleasure, and the other is called Shreya, the path of ultimate bliss. The first represents the materialistic approach to life while the second represents the spiritual approach to life. The world of spirit exists just as surely as the world of matter exists. Man cannot ignore either. Materialism cannot remain a monopoly of the West, nor can spiritualism remain a monopoly of the East. So far, the West has remained concerned more with exploring science and studying phenomena of the external universe, keeping materialism in view. On the other hand, the East has remained concerned more with the noumena for developing innate psychic powers, keeping spiritualism in view. The time has come when the West and East should understand each other’s points of view and collaborate to evolve a synthesis between materialism and spiritualism. When that happens, there will dawn a truly New Age with a spiritually civilized humanity. Then all mankind will become one large, better and cultured family.
In reality, all humanity is one family but in the present age it is fettered by many mentally obscuring concepts which are concomitant with nationality, race, caste, color, creed etc. The advanced thinkers of the world should give sympathetic and careful consideration to this problem. Indian sanatan culture may enable the individual to view human life in the right perspective and to determine the relative importance that should be paid to various aspects of human existence in order to foster universal brotherhood. Its philosophical and psychological concepts coupled with its spiritual practices such as yoga (karma, jnan, bhakti, mantra, etc.) guarantee to the individual mental equipoise, serenity and calm and help him to lead a life free from passions. This is what the Life Mission aims to offer to the people of the world. We believe that in order to propagate this knowledge we must reach, know and love every human being and we must seek him everywhere.
Any talk of universal brotherhood would remain a dream or mirage till the ideas of ‘my’ nation, ‘my’ country, ‘my’ race, ‘my’ religion, ‘my’ society, ‘my’ family, etc block human minds, generating hostile feelings against ‘another’. No doubt the belonging to a nation, a country, a society are unavoidable necessities, but not final goals in themselves. They are the walls that cause division, disunity and disharmony amongst nations and peoples. They need to be leveled down, but not through the use of strength or brutal force. Humanity has tried such means in the past, but in vain. Indian Sanatan culture offers a better means. It suggests ‘atmic bond’ (spiritual bonds) instead of the atomic bomb. By awakening the inner spirit all human beings can experience one-ness with the Divine One, whose children they all are. Thousands of years ago the sages of India have proclaimed in a hymn of Yajurveda: “Hear you, all men, children of immortal ancestors possessing a common heritage, that you are all one”. Once again, Life Mission intends to be the carrier of this ancient message of unity for the peoples of the present day world. It offers spiritual development and enlightenment of the Self.
In the modern world most people endorse the view that whatever is visible is true and the invisible is not true. In this context materialism is considered to be the right and basic principle of human life. The materialists evaluate progress in terms of man’s victory over external nature and its elements. On the other hand the spiritualists evaluate progress in terms of man’s victory over his inner nature and his Self. The world today is marching ahead triumphantly for gaining victory over external nature and its elements with the help of science. During the last century we have experienced that materialism and science have brought riches, luxuries, sophisticated weapons, efficiency, speed and comforts to the world, but at the same time have led man to greed, hatred, restlessness and war. We have witnessed the vast destruction caused by the energy released by atomic explosions. Good and judicious use of materialism and science has no doubt worked for the betterment of the human condition, but their evil and injudicious use have also brought poverty and suffering in their wake. How shall humanity profit by securing bountiful treasures and at the same time stockpiling atomic weapons? Eastern spiritualism poses the same question: “What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?”
In the ancient Indian scripture Brihadaranyak Upanishad, there is an interesting dialogue in this regard, between the Sage Yajnyavalkya and his wife Maitreyi. The Sage wanted to renounce the worldly life of the householder. It was thus necessary for him to renounce all his possessions. He therefore offered his property and possessions to his wife for her future maintenance. His wife Maitreyi posed the question: “Suppose I get the wealth contained in the whole world, shall I be contented and consoled in spirit? Will that wealth lead me to immortality?” Yajnyavalkya replied: “No, my dear! With this material wealth you can enjoy pleasures as others do, but it cannot give you the eternal peace of the soul”. At this Maitreyi exclaimed: “Then of what avail is this wealth to me if it cannot give me everlasting peace and tranquility? I would rather have from you the knowledge of the Self that offers eternal peace and harmony”.
In the Katha Upanishad we come across a dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama, the Lord of Death. Nachiketa has a thirst for the knowledge of the Self. He pleads with Yama to initiate him into the spiritual path, that may lead to the knowledge of the Self and to ultimate bliss. Yama advises him that it is easier to revel in the pleasures and luxuries of worldly life than to pursue the path of the spirit, which is difficult, like walking on a razor’s edge. Yama offered to enrich him with ornaments, wealth, land, home, chariot and all the pleasures of the world but told him not to ask for the initiation into the spiritual life leading to the knowledge of Atma (soul). But Nachiketa persisted: “All pleasures of the world are transient. They exist today and are gone tomorrow. They please the senses but also exhaust them. Material wealth cannot satisfy the soul, even if one were to be born in the world a thousand times. It is only by the realization of the true nature of the Self that one can attain mastery over the world of matter and sense perceptions. Therefore, Sir, I would have initiation into that wisdom with which I can perceive the reality of the Self and become Atmavid (knower of the Self).”
Today the world is reveling in the achievements of science. The outward distances between nations are easily covered by the modern means of travel. Even the long physical distances between the earth and moon and other stellar bodies are covered by sophisticated inventions of science designed to conquer outer space. But none of this has brought man any nearer to his fellow man. That can happen only when the inner distances between man and man are reduced by means of knowledge of the Self. There are certain higher ideals which go to form the spiritual element in the individual. These ideals are the spiritual verities of truth, love, harmony, benevolence, sacrifice etc. These ideals can be awakened only if our outlook is spiritual. When we yearn to uphold and assimilate these ideals in life there will be a surge of universal brotherhood and world peace. Life Mission is working to bring about that surge with your help.
Thank you all.
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