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Radiant Immortal Atman!

May the Divine Grace of God Almighty and the choicest blessings of Worshipful and Beloved Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj shower upon you in abundance. May God and Gurudev grant you long life, continued good health, progress in your occupation and fullest success in all your undertakings and activities including your spiritual sadhana for the attainment of God-Realization, Enlightenment and Eternal Liberation.

Most precious is human birth as it is the only form of life endowed with intelligence amongst the countless other forms of living beings who populate the Planet Earth which is our common home where we live together with millions and billions of other creatures like the submarine living beings under water, animals great and small that move about on earth and numerous forms of flying creatures including the swiftly soaring birds with feathers of innumerable colours and hues most breath-taking in their variety and beauty and their melodious bird song. Due to the power of intelligence man has become a pioneer in ever so many fields of human knowledge. This knowledge has enabled him to conquer external nature. By such conquest and scientific advancement a human being has excelled all creatures in their own element. As I have already mentioned in my previous letter in last month's Divine Life Magazine of January 2004, he has outdone the performances of the various types of living creatures that dwell on terra-firma. He flies in the air faster than the speed of the sound. He is able to move under the waters of the ocean with incredible speed in submarines. His normal automobiles and his racing cars move faster than any other creature. His satellites orbit the earth. His space station receives astronauts when they want an interval in their journey.

However grand and astounding these achievements are in the visible world of the outer dimension, there is a subtle, invisible inner dimension where a conquest of our inner nature is called for. In this inner dimension of man's psyche the gross elements do not prevail. This is not a realm of earth, water, limitless air and the vast ether of space. This inner nature of man is made-up of thoughts, sentiments, emotions, memories, imaginations and the individual ego principle which asserts, "I am", I shall do this", "I possess so much of such-and-such commodity or quality, etc". This may be money, possessions, physical strength, beauty, status, official authority and the like. These may be well utilized or can be misused also. There is possibility of positive utilization of these factors or negative applications of the self-same factors. You must be awake and alert and see that the mind does not drag you into a negative utilization of these forces. The six hidden enemies of man are impure desire or passion, anger, avarice, delusion, arrogance and envy or jealousy. Conquest of these inner enemies and subjugation of their manifestations is more difficult yet more important than conquest of outer nature. Because, if they are allowed to conquer you and get the better of you, they will make you a puppet in their hands and enslave you permanently and turn you into a problem in social field in which you live and function day by day. This is most undesirable. In this garden of God which the world is, God has sent you to be a beautiful and fragrant Flower and not to be a pricking Thorn. If you address God as your Heavenly Father, then you must maintain the awareness that you are His son and hence you must be Divine in your nature because God is infinite Divinity. This implies all the sublime and noble qualities like kindness, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, the spontaneous urge to help others in distress and go to the aid of those who are in a trouble. You must make yourself a centre of benefit to this entire creation of God. Exercising these noble qualities in your daily life will confront you with many challenges which you have to face and overcome. This requires both strength and courage. Bapuji Mahatma Gandhi had declared, "Ahimsa is a virtue of the strong. A weak person cannot practice real Ahimsa. It is better for him to confront an offender and retaliate. Because, in the case of a weak person non-retaliation may prove to be cowardice". Today India needs to adopt the gospel of Strength. The great Swami Vivekananda declared, "What awakened India needs today is Strength. The citizen of India needs the heart of a lion, nerves of steel, muscles of iron and a boldness and a courage that makes one ready to die in the service of one's Country. Self-sacrifice is the watchword of the new era. Be ready to sacrifice your life upon the altar of Humanity in its human welfare. Let all your actions in thought, word and deed flow like an unbroken stream of selfless service to all humanity as well as to all creatures".

Our Most Honorable President of India, Rashtrapati Abdul Kalam met 10,000 young Indians, both boys as well as girls upon the eve of the recent Republic Day anniversary on Sunday 25th January evening and made these young folks to take 10 pledges in token of and proof of their love for their Motherland as well as their fellow citizens. He himself spoke the words of each pledge and made the 10,000 young Indians to follow him and repeat it part by part. It was really inspiring to note not only the President's great love for his Motherland but also his keen desire that all his fellow citizens of Bharatvarsha from Kannyakumari right up to Himalayas should also be lovers of their Motherland. It was a most edifying sight that roused up within our hearts the lofty sentiments of both the compositions Jana Gana Mana Adhi Nayaka as well as Vande Matram. The Most Honorable Rashtrapati's special interest in Young India or Yuva Bharati has deep significance because they constitute the India of tomorrow. They are Bhavishya Bharati. They are the citizens of tomorrow who will be in charge of the important affairs of the Nation, including the protection of its citizens as well as the defense of its borders in the coming generation. The Motherland looks up to them to be Her elite guard in every field of National activity. Boldness, fearlessness, strength, courage, daring, unhesitating and dauntless readiness to sacrifice everything to fulfill their mission shall characterize the Indians of tomorrow. In this mission may God bless them with full success. May each one be an inspiration to his/her neighbour. May all the Saints, Sages, Mystics and the Great Souls of India, both ancient as well as modern, shower their benedictions upon Bharatvarsha and make our Motherland the Leader of all other nations and may She be an inspiring ideal as an authentic Secular Socialistic Democracy.

Peace be unto you! God bless you! Om Shanti!

(Swami Chidananda)

President, The Divine Life Society