We are all human beings in form. But we have so many animal instincts hiding in our mind. We lose the humanitarian attitude on many occasions. Why? This is because of our selfishness and greed / (extreme desire for wealth/gain) avarice.
We start learning about the moral code of conduct as prescribed in our religious texts seven from the first standard in the school. We read and forget. We never realize their importance and so do not practice such moral codes in our life.
We have been learning the great epics – the Ramayanam and the Mahabharatham. It is a great pity that we have not understood the message offered by them.
All these lessons are said and written repeatedly in a monotonous way. What is the use? We never aspire to become better persons like the enlightened ones. We feel that we know them already. But it is the arrogance and ignorance which stop us from going up the ladder of wisdom. What we have learnt is much less than what is still remaining. People have not realised this truth.
Human beings belong to one of multitudinous organisms living in the universe. Man differs according to their knowledge, desire, avarice and other animal instincts, even though human race is one. Among so many thousands of people only a few are humane persons. Identify them and become associated with them. Let us surrender to the feet of saints and increase the number of persons searching for true wisdom. The primary duty of a human being is to become a humane person.
A saint is one who treats all living organisms as his own soul and realizes that all have equal right and privileges to live in this world. Such a saint is the spiritual teacher for us.
Who is a human being? One who worships his mother and father as God. He gives importance to temple worship and prays there. One who surrenders to the feet of spiritual teacher and follow his teachings.
In order to reach God doing penance thinking about Him continuously is another duty of man. One who treats all humans equally as he loves himself.
One who thinks deeply about the God who resides in every one of us. He understands the significance of subtle numbers “two” and “eight” and aims at reaching the final state of “eight”.
One who has realized the truth about five elements and staunchly sticks to them is a human being. Light is the surest guide to those who want to realize the presence of God in them. One who believes that the holy chanting of “Om” is the omnipresent ruler of the world.
All time potion of perennial cure is God. One who realizes this and surrenders to Him for permanent cure is the human being. We can identify man by these qualities. One who brings peace to one’s own mind is a human being. One who walks along the path of virtues, without being diverted by evil path, is a true human being.
Once a naked monk was sitting in a corner of a street commented on the people. He said: “here goes the ox”; “here goes the fox” like that. When Vallalar passed along the road, he said, “here comes a virtuous man!” and covered his nakedness with his hands. This happened during the days of Ramalinga Swamigal. A human being must lead such a virtuous life.
A mother will be happy only when her son is appreciated as a wise person. On that occasion she will be happier than when the son was born of her womb.
One who leads a disciplined life following the code of conduct, will be praised and worshipped as a wise man. He will be applauded as a great achiever in this world.
Bharathiar sang: It is better to educate a poor person than to build many choultries to feed the people. We understand the message on the surface level. But deeper level meaning is about providing spiritual wisdom to people. There are two stages in spiritual experience: one is “outside” and the other is “inside”. Those who practise devotion must be provided with food. On the other hand, if you want to raise them to the level of “inside” stage, then teach them the path of spiritual wisdom. Providing wisdom is the best form of service to humanity.
On the deeper level, “teaching letters” is what Bharathiar meant by those words. The letters are “eight” and “two” “ a” and “u”. It is better to teach the significance of these two letters and make people self realized and pave the way for their salvation than building many choultries to feed the hungry.
Teach the spiritual wisdom. I have written 12 books to illustrate the importance of spiritual wisdom and explained the ways and means to achieve it.
Kanmanimalai and Arulmanimalai are meant for attaining the salvation through the path of spiritual wisdom.
Let the wisdom be spread to others in the world. Once we see the world with “wise eyes”, we can lead a peaceful life. Good people will associate themselves with us. Lotus, when blossoms does not invite the bee, so also when we do austere penance and attain wisdom, God will guide you in the right path. Everything that happens to you will bring goodness to you.
As we surrender ourselves to God totally, then all our activities becomes Godly. Only when we surrender completely to the will of God, and lead our life austerely every act of ours will become divine act. Suppose people do all kinds of deadly sins like killing and claim that there are acts of God, the government and law courts will not accept your dogmatic argument.
If you kill somebody, it is the act of God. Then death sentence given to you is also an act of God. Let us think about it. How does every act become an act of God? God provides opportunities to the soul to perform good and bad acts and makes it be born again into the world. It helps the soul become free from the cycle of birth and death and liberate from the bondage of birth.
It is our duty to use the little knowledge to wash our sins through good acts by seeking the guidance of a spiritual teacher and getting spiritual wisdom through a true teacher. By doing penance and surrendering to the will of God, we must release ourselves from the fruits of good and bad acts. This is how we can achieve the great perennial state of deathlessness – the everlasting life.
To reach our spiritual goals, numerous saints and God will come to our help. We must work hard to reach such a stage. Everything lies in our hands. We must work for it.
The vast universe is managed by God, the headmaster. He gives admission to us in the school called the earth. Spiritually wise teachers teach us lessons. We learn about the arithmetic of virtues and vices and nature of human soul; appearance and reality about desire, love, relatives and the nature of bondage and liberation.
At the end of learning process, we write examinations. One who scores 100% is treated as passed candidate and will be offered a teaching position.
One who has failed and become frustrated will be given supplementary tuition by saints. Thus we must go through the tests and overcome the cycle of births and deaths. One who fails undergoes the learning process until he finally crosses over the cycle of birth and death on the earth. This is what we must realize. As a result, he becomes quiet while others clatter with useless words. Learn where you are and improve your wisdom. If you dodge, you must go through the process of birth and death again and again.
If you find the learning difficult, seek the help of saints and their books will be of immense help to make you understand the life in this exam. You cannot copy from others and cheat the examiners because all these examiners are fully qualified to teach and guide you through fair means. In this school, truth, hard work, determination, strong will power, self-discipline, humility and such other qualities are taught. When you master these lessons, you will succeed. Prepare yourself for such a test. Spiritual teachers are there to help you then and there. The best person wins.
In the field of drama, if you assume the role of a dog, you must behave like a dog and bark at strangers. In human form, our role is to learn through suffering and reach the goal. As you lead a humane life, you enjoy the perennial life of deathlessness.
Just like spiritual saints, there were many patriotic political leaders who sacrificed their lives and comforts and got independence for our country. During the freedom struggle thousands of Indians sacrificed their lives. But it was Mahatma Gandhi who coordinated millions of Indians through non-violence and peaceful demonstrations of non-cooperation. Perhaps the only country which got independence from colonialists through non-violent methods is India. Mahatma Gandhi is the only apostle of non-violence during his time. That is why he is called Mahatma (the great soul).
Our ancestors have taught us the spiritual guidance through their speeches and writings. We must learn their teachings and lead a disciplined life.
Doing penance peacefully in order to realize God makes you a humane person.
Just like the swan which can separate milk from water we must learn to follow virtues and shun vices.
How to become a humane person?
Practise what Avvaiyar has preached and follow the path of truth and love. Lead a self-disciplined life as advocated by your mother and do penance to purify yourself.
When you seek the omnipresent God by learning about yourself, control your thoughts and words. Aim at liberation and you need not renounce the family life and go to forest to do penance.
To become a permanent entity, lead a life of truth and adhere to the principles of wise leaders.
Do not search for a spiritual teacher. Realise about your self and learn the art of attaining perennial wealth of spiritual knowledge.
Learn to lead the life of love, peace and light so that you will enjoy spiritual bliss in both the present life and the life hereafter. Learn to live a life of deathlessness and sleep without closing your eyes.
Practise universal brotherhood of man and all living organisms (Jeevakarunyam). We must be charitable to realize the light in the forehead.
We have so many ancient saints to lead us who born in different epochs. Let us learn from them and become mellowed with their teachings.
Oh God! lead us in to the everlasting immensely great light so that we can get relief from the sufferings of this birth and become immortal without any future births and deaths.