The Tongue
Without the control of the senses, Saadhanaa is ineffective; it is like keeping water in a leaky pot. Of all senses, first, if the tongue is conquered, victory is yours. When the tongue craves for some delicacy, assert that you will not cater to its whims. The monks and monastic dignitaries in this land have fallen prey to the tongue and are unable to curb its vagaries; they wear the robes of renunciation but clamour for tasty delicacies and thus bring the institution of monk hood into disrepute. If you persist in giving yourself simple food that is not savoury or hot, but, amply sustaining, the tongue may squirm for a few days, but, it will soon welcome it. That is the way to subdue it and overcome the evil consequences of it being your master. Since the tongue is equally insistent on scandal and cheap talk, you have to curb that tendency also. Talk little; talk sweetly; talk only when there is pressing need; talk only to those to whom you must, do not shout or raise the voice, in anger or peace. It will lead to better public relations and less involvement in contacts and conflicts with others. You may be laughed at as a kill-joy but, there are compensations enough for you. It will conserve your time and energy; you can put your inner energy to better use. You may take my Message : Control Your Taste. Control Your Talk.
Four F’S
You should make your own conscience secure and you should have confidence in yourself. Your conscience is your guide and should dictate your behaviour Either for good or for bad, it is your conscience that is responsible. The guilt in you causes the bad, the strength and confidence in you cause the good. In the first instance you should therefore do such things, which will promote your confidence in your own self. That is why I have told you on some occasions that you should follow the four F’s. Follow the master, and that is your conscience. The second thing is to Face the Devil that is the evil or the contradictory. Third is Fight to the end. Then you should Finish the Game. You must remember all these four injunctions and keep remembering them.
Ob books – Dr. Zakir Hussain
“The true university of these days is a collection of books”. It has been aptly said. Books give us new view of life and teach us how to live. They soothe the grieved, the stubborn they chastise. Fools they admonish and confirm the wise. They support us in solitude. They help us to forget the evasiveness of men and things; compose our cares and our passions and lay our disappointments to sleep; they lead the spirit with the bread of ideas and slake its thirst at all the wells of thoughts.
The book is so much the life companion; the most mannerly companion and marvellous of companions accessible at all time in all moods, frank without being offensive. It never speaks unless it is spoken to. It can await eternally for your approach. It is very ready to oblige and to offer the best it has to whosoever seeks it. It instructs, inspires, rebukes but stops immediately you had enough of these. It never gets irritated at the silly questions one sometime tends to put to it. It just smiles and holds its breath. The book is a wonderful companion. It is wonderful companion to those who are lonely; It is a wonderful teacher to those who yearn to learn and it is wonderful source of enjoyment.
Love for the country
“After so much Tapasya I have known that the highest truth is this. He is present in every being. These are all the manifold forms of Him. There is no other God to seek for. He alone is worshipping God who serves all things. For the nest so many years let all other vain Gods disappear from our minds. This is the only God that is awake, our own race, every where his hands, every where his feet and every where his ears. All other gods are sleeping. First of all worship the Virat, those around us. These are our Gods-men and animals and the first Gods we have to worship are, our own countrymen”.
Swami Vivekananda
Patriotism
“Do you wish to be a patriot? He asks and answers. Tune yourself in love with your country and the people. Feel your unity with them Let not even the shadow of your present personality be the thin glass partition between you and your people. Be a genuine soldier laying down your personal life in the interest of the land. Abnegating the little ego and having thus become the whole country, feel anything, your country will feel with you. March, your country will follow. Feel health, your people will be healthy. Your strength will pulsate in their nerves.
Let me feel I am India, the whole of India. The land of India is my body. The Commorin is my feet. The Himaalayas my head. From my hair flows the Ganga, from my head comes the Brahmaputra and the Indus. The Vindhyas are girth round my loins. The Coromandel is my right and Malabar my left leg. I am the whole of India, and its east and west are my arms and I spread them in a straight line to embrace humanity. I am universal in my love. Ah’ such is the posture of my body. It is standing and gazing at infinite space, but my inner spirit is the soul of all. When I walk, I feel it is India walking. When I breathe, I feel it is India breathing. When I speak, it is India speaking. I am India, I am Shankara, I am Shiva. This is the highest realisation of patriotism and this is practical Vedaanta.
Swami Vivekananda
“If you live with criticism,
you learn to condemn,
If you live with hostility,
you learn to fight;
If you live with ridicule,
you learn to be shy;
If you live with shame,
You learn to feel guilty;
If you live with tolerance,
You learn to be patient;
If you live with encouragement,
You learn confidence
If you live with praise,
You learn to appreciate;
If you live with fairness,
You learn to justice;
If you live with security,
You learn to have faith;
If you live with approval,
You learn to like yourself;
If you live with acceptance and friendship,
You learn to find love in the World”.
