I am not a nationalist. India, Pakistan, China, Japan don’t mean anything to me. I do not see this earth divided into sections. The misfortune of this earth is that the earth is divided into sections. And as long as it remains divided into sections, this misfortune will continue. Science has united the earth, if only politics is removed from the middle, then the misfortune of man can be eradicated. Today all those means are available on the earth, which make man happy and prosperous. Today for the first time the earth can fill the gods of heaven with envy.
But politics has to die, only then can science win. Science opens doors of good fortune, politics turns those doors into misfortune. Scientists like Albert Einstein, and Lord Rutherford discovered the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb could have proved to be a piece of good luck for the earth because so much energy came into our hands that we could do whatever we wanted. But the opposite happened. Millions of people were burnt to ashes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Science seeks power, and politics use that power. Einstein was so disturbed by this in his last days, that when someone asked him that in the next life also would you like to be a scientist again. He said no. Will be a plumber, that’s better, but don’t have to be a scientist now. Because everything we searched went in vain. It didn’t go in vain, it became fatal, and it became toxic.
With the discovery of atomic energy, there is no need for a single person to go hungry on this earth. Nor do so many people need to rot in so many thousands of diseases. Nor is there any need for a man to live in the same old bondage of seventy years. Scientists Say: Man Can Easily Live Two Hundred Years Now–Very Easily! And scientists also say that the human body has so much capacity to regenerate itself that death should happen, it is not necessary. It is avoidable, very avoidable. Science has made the earth very small. Earth has become a small village. You can go around the whole earth in twenty-four hours. But politics is proving to be fierce.
So the first thing that I would like to say is that if India wants its fortunes to rise, then India should be the first country on earth to declare itself international. Those who say that we become the land of the United Nations. Whole country! We don’t want to keep it separate. And India is the only country which can take this step first, such is its tradition! The whole world is a family! For centuries we have reiterated that all Vasudha is our family. Till now there was no scientific basis for this thing, so this thing remained only as a sage’s voice. Now this can be converted into reality. Now you can convert your sages into real experiments. For those who said: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, nothing would be a greater blessing to their souls than that India should be the first country on earth, India should not miss this honour, and say that we are international. We drop petty boundaries. We leave petty national urges. We declare ourselves international.
This is my first impression regarding the future. And remember, someone, will do it. Then you will miss it, and then you will regret it. This historic moment and this great opportunity are not to be missed. Somebody will do it, sooner or later someone will do it. Switzerland will… or someone will! But the one who does will be the creator of history. It will be a new beginning, the foundation stone of a new humanity will be laid. But I am not a nationalist. Nationalism is poison! The man suffered a lot because of nationalism. And according to nationalism are religiousism, and sectarianism — of caste, colour, character. All those are also small games of politics. I also want that man should not limit himself to any boundaries – neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Jain, nor Christian.
Being human is enough. It doesn’t mean that if someone is interested in the Bible, don’t take it. But being a human being can draw from the Bible is not essential to being a Christian. It does not mean that if someone enjoys the Gita, then he should not take it. But where is it necessary to be a Hindu for this? If it is not necessary to be a Hindu to sit in an aeroplane, it is not necessary to be a Christian; If it is not necessary to be a Hindu to take medicine from a doctor, it is not necessary to be a Christian, then these are the great doctors–Krishna, Nanak, Kabir, Darya, Mohammed, Jesus, Buddha–from these great doctors to take medicine for the disease of life. Where is the need to be Hindu, Muslim, or Christian? It is not necessary to impose these small requests on yourself. The truth is that the more these urges become stronger, the more our relations with those great physicians are severed.
All limits must be transgressed. Man is only man, such an announcement should be made. Chandidas has said: Sabar Upar Manus Satya, Tahar Upar Nahi! Above all is the truth of man, there is no other truth above it. Repeat this proclamation, echo this proclamation from house to house – ‘Sabar upar manus satya, tahar upar nahi.’ Man is the ultimate truth, there is no truth above him. God is also hidden within man. God is another name for the innermost of man; It resides in its own inner cavity. God is not far from the devotee. The day the devotee is completely engrossed in his devotion, at that very moment he becomes God. Leave all petty requests! So that we can call the will of all humanity as our will. What poverty is this that you are a Hindu, so the Koran is not your will! And the Quran is so lovely! You are undeservedly poor, Quran can be your wealth.
Just think, you don’t have to be a Christian when you read Shakespeare! And you don’t have to be a Hindu to read Kalidas! Nor do you have to be a Muslim to read Omar Khayyam. So in the world of literature, whether you are Shakespeare, Omar Khayyam or Kalidas, you consider everyone as your own. The world of religion is bigger than that. In it Quran, Guru Granth, Bible, Dhammapada, and Gita, all should be yours. A truly religious person is one who can claim the religious experience of the whole world as his own. You are not only the son of Ram-Krishna, the blood of Buddha-Mahavir also flows in you. You are not only related to Mohammed and Christ, the blood of Zarathustra and Lao Tzu also flows in you. This whole human consciousness is one ocean. There are many names of ghats, there is only one sea. You are tied to the ghats and have forgotten the ocean!
I am anti-nationalism, anti-religionism, anti-communalism, anti-cultism. I want the man to assimilate his whole past. And the man who assimilates his entire past, he can be the master of the entire future — remember. And we have to own the whole future. So I don’t say only in relation to religion, we have to be masters of both religion and science.
The old man was incomplete. There were two types of people in the old man — one was materialistic, one was spiritualist; Both were incomplete. Materialists used to think, I am just body–eat, drink, enjoy! And the spiritualist used to think — I am leaving the body — so neither eat, drink, nor have fun; Rot, lie on thorns, fast, stand on your head; Melt your body, because the soul is the enemy of the body. Both these things are foolish. And both these things have made mankind insane. In my concept of future man, man will be neither materialistic nor spiritualist. Man will be totalitarian; He will say: I am the soul as well as I am the body. The body is my home, the soul resides in it.
Do you decorate your house or not? Do you keep your house clean or not? And where the soul resides, that body does not remain a home, it becomes a temple. The respect of the body is the respect of the soul hidden within you, differently. So don’t torture the body, don’t destroy it, don’t melt it, make the body a ladder. This old man was a broken man. This fractured man had created a world that suffered greatly. Because the one who has thought eat, drink, have fun — he just got finished eating, drinking, having fun, he never looked at the inner wealth. If he didn’t agree, then why would he cast a glance? He lived as an extrovert, died as an extrovert — remained the poor of the poor inside. And inside was sitting the emperor of emperors. And the one who thought that everything is within became an introvert, he closed his eyes. He got the juices inside, but great poverty spread outside, and humility spread.
Your spiritualists have a hand in the fact that India is poor today. Whether your mind believes it or not, whether it hurts your ego or not, I don’t care! Your India which is poor today is dying of hunger — Half of the people in India are hungry, and no one seems to be healthy — The reason behind that is your spiritualists. He said: There is nothing outside, just close your eyes and sit in the caves. The West has become prosperous on the outside but is poor on the inside. The East became rich inside, and poor outside. This is very incomplete. It so happened that one wing of the bird was clipped and said: Fly! Then whether the wing is clipped on the left or the right, what difference does it make, the bird cannot fly. It then cut off a man’s leg and said: Run! Then whether you cut left or right, what difference does it make?
The humanity of the East is also of one wing, the humanity of the West is also of one wing. I want a man who has both wings. In my vision of the future, there is such a man who will be happy in the body as well as happy in the soul; One who will neither be introverted nor extrovert; The one who will be skilled in going in, coming out; Whose skill would be to become a bridge between introversion and extroversion. As you go outside your house. It’s morning, the sun came out, the lovely birds started singing, and you came out. Do you have to overcome some big difficulties in coming out of this? Do you have to do some big yoga? Do you have to do some Shirshasan etc. first? You quietly come out! Then the sun became thick, the body started heating up, and you keep coming inside in search of shade. Just like when it is sunny, you come inside, when it is cold, you come outside, similarly, a person should be skilled in going outside and inside. The inside is ours, the outside is also ours, the whole, everything is ours. There is nothing to be discarded in this.
I want to give you such skills, that you can come in and out easily. As easily as the breath that comes out goes in. The East decided that we would hold our breath inside — dead! The West decided that we would hold our breath outside — dead! Both experiments have failed. The entire history of mankind till now is a history of failure. I want a new man. He may be born in India, he may be born outside India also, because he has no relation with the whole of India. A new man should emerge in every corner of the earth. That man will be a breathing man — he will take outside as well as inside. And remember one interesting thing, the deeper you breathe out, the deeper the breath will go in. And the deeper you go inside, the deeper it will go out. There is a balance in both. And so far you have been taught to be afraid to breathe, be afraid to live; To live is a sin, and to live is a punishment. You are living because you have been sent to this earth to be punished for sin.
These misconceptions should be broken and it is because of these misconceptions that there has been a conflict between science and religion. As soon as this notion is broken and we accept a man in his totality–beautiful outside, beautiful inside–that’s how science and religion will come closer. And it will be the most fortunate hour on this earth when science and religion will come together, dance hand in hand! On that day there will be a lot of money and there will be a lot of attention too! On that day the body will also be healthy and the soul will also be happy.
This is my belief for all human beings — Naturally India is also included in that.
The old man was either an otherworldly or a worldly man. He was either an atheist or a theist. And whenever a man makes such distinctions — believer-atheist, this world-hereafter — he breaks into sections. A man broken into fragments becomes insane. This world is also ours, the hereafter is also ours. And the hereafter is not different from this world, it is an extension of this world and atheism and theism are not enemies. Atheism is the ladder to theism. Understand this thing properly, because you have been explained so many times in the opposite way that the root has become a ghost — the ladder of atheism and theism! But I repeat again: Atheism is the stepping stone to theism. The person who does not know how to say no never knows how to say yes to that person. The man who is impotent in saying no, his yes is also impotent. The man who can say: No, if he ever says yes, you can count on his yes. And the person who always says: Yes sir, yes sir, don’t trust his words. There is no force in his yes. His yes is absolutely weak. His yes is absolutely languid. That’s why your believers seem completely lethargic. The earth is full of believers — some are going to temple, some are going to gurudwara, some are going to a mosque, some are going to church. Your earth is full of theists — but your crowd of such believers and the smell of theism is nowhere to be seen! What is the matter? Where does the mistake happen? The mistake is happening because your believers are idiots. They have been forcibly made theists. Theism is not their own choice, it is not their own resolution.
The theism was imposed on the children since childhood, that bow before God, that there is God; If you don’t bow down, you will rot in hell, or if you bow down, you will be rewarded in heaven. Scared, scared, frightened. Little helpless children! As much incest has happened with helpless children on earth, that much has not happened with anyone else. If you do it with someone else, he will also struggle a little, what a struggle helpless children! It is up to you, you fill yes in whatever you say. If you call night night then it is okay, if you call it day then it is okay. The child is so helpless, so dependent — on bread, livelihood, clothes, rags, on everything — that you will say whatever you want to him. If one is born in a Hindu house, he becomes a Hindu; if he is born in a Muslim house, he becomes a Muslim. Raise a child born in a Muslim home in a Hindu home, he will become a Hindu. He will not even remember that he was once a Muslim. This Muslim, this Hindutva, all are imposed. I want this imposition to stop. The children should be set free. Yes, definitely they should be given the aspiration to search, they should be told: to search in life. Life is not as much as it appears on the surface, much is hidden inside, to be discovered. We also search, and you also search. Give the aspiration to find, but don’t give the principle of what you will get after searching.
So naturally every child will move with negation. Denial is the way to keep the edge of the sword. At first, he will say no, because he will not say yes to what he does not understand. You will say that there is God; He will say: no, where is it, show it! Everyone, if he has even a little bit of intelligence, would be an atheist first. And the search for atheism itself will gradually bring him to that place… Such things will begin to be experienced in his life which are difficult to deny. Someday will fall in love, will know and find love or not, in words, it comes in principles, life does not end there, there is something else. Some day he will see the rose blossom and find that it is beautiful. But beauty cannot be proved, because beauty is not a substance. Some day he will see the starry night and will be amazed, amazed. There will be silence for a moment. This beauty of the starry night, this peace, this grace, this majesty… for the first time in his life there will be the first rustle of ‘yes’. While denying slowly, one day he will reach the temple of yes — he will inevitably reach. And then yes there is fun. Then there is an explosion in theism.
I’d like to see Prithvi as a theist, but not the opposite of an atheist. I want such theists, who are theists by drinking atheism. I want such theists, who have made the ladder of atheism and are theists. I want such theists, who are not afraid to hear no and do not put their fingers in their ears. I want such believers who have made use of no and have searched for yes from the edge of no. These eschatological believers were essentially opposed to this life. We gave him a lot of opportunities in India! They destroyed our whole life! Everything is wrong. Eating is wrong, wearing clothes is wrong, building nice houses is wrong, living a life of ease is wrong–everything is wrong! They made us sick. Our whole psychology has become one long story of morbidity! He made two nuisances. Made a nuisance that this life is wrong; This world is sin, an illusion. This had two results. Firstly, the result was that those who did not listen to them and somehow continued to live in this world, a feeling of guilt arose within them that whatever we were doing, we were doing wrong. If you love a woman, then it is a sin! If you earn two paise, then it is a sin! If you build a nice house, then it is a sin! If you wear nice clothes, then sin! A feeling of guilt arose within him. And because of their guilt, they will not be able to enjoy whatever they do, because the guilt is deep inside. Afraid, trembling that now he will have to rot in hell — Fell in love with a woman!
And others, those who obeyed him, became hypocrites. Because life is so natural that you may say a million lies and say a million dreams, yet it pulls, and attracts. It will pull, because hidden within it is the attraction of God. Your Mahatmas keep shouting lakhs! So two types of people were created. One is a hypocrite, some from above and some from inside. And created another type of person, full of guilt, who is always walking with a stone on one chest. We have killed humanity badly. In my vision of the future, there will be a man who is neither guilt-ridden nor hypocritical; One who will live life in its totality, in its fullness and dedicate his life at the feet of God; The one who will love, the one who will dance, the one who will sing; Which will also take away the joy of this life. And because of all this joy, God will be grateful that I am blessed that you have given such a unique opportunity to me, to the unfortunate, to me nothing! Such beautiful trees, their greenery, their flowers! You have given me such moon stars, such sun, such people, and such a wonderful world which I do not deserve, so I am grateful! He will enjoy the pleasures of this world and the enjoyment of pleasure will become his prayer. I want to see such a man — in India as well as outside India.
The old man who was was moralistic, not religious. There is a big difference between religion and policy. The policy is always the name of following what others impose on you. Religion is the name of following the instructions given by your consciousness. And religion and ethics don’t need to always agree — often they do not agree. Like in the time of Buddha, the policy was to sacrifice animals in Yagya. But Buddha’s conscience did not testify. Animal sacrifice! This thing was ethical, but there was no testimony of Buddha’s mind. In the time of Mohammed, the worship of stone idols was moral, but this testimony did not sit in the heart of Mohammed, that one can reach God by worshipping stones. The policy is a socially accepted system. Religion is a feeling raised in the soul. So far man has lived morally, it has been arranged; Because society wants you to obey society. There is no question of right and wrong. Who are you to decide what is right and wrong? It has been five thousand years since Manu wrote his Smriti, even now Hindus are following the same. This policy. This is not religion. Manu wrote that Shudras are castaways, so Shudras are still castaways — they are still being burnt. Manu wrote, as he wrote, it is being accepted even today. This is a policy, not a religion.
The foundation stone of the old world was policy. The foundation stone of the future will be religion. Religion gives privacy to a person, ethics takes away the privacy of a person. And the privacy was taken away or the soul was taken away! Dharma is that quiet inner voice within each individual from where the divine speaks.
That’s why I don’t ask my sannyasin to be moral. It doesn’t mean that I say, be immoral. It only means that you go into the depths of meditation and listen to your inner voice, and it tells you that it is the ultimate law. Then bet everything on it. And you will never lose, you will never miss, you will reach your destination. The man of the future will not be moral, but religious. A new concept of man — a very new concept has become necessary. A belief that accepts life in its entirety — and with gratitude! A belief that does not deny anything from the small to the great. Because the lotus is hidden in the mud. If the mud is rejected, the lotus never arises. However, the lotus is not visible in the mud. And when the lotuses are born, it is hard to believe that the mud. Must have been born from Mud and Lotus, both should be accepted.
That’s why I tell my monk that don’t leave the house, don’t leave the door. This is a world of mud, don’t leave it and run away, otherwise, you will not be able to become a lotus — In my belief of sannyas, it is the first form of a human being, its first law. But I am not saying these things, Ayub Syed, only for India. I do not wish to make any requests in such narrowness. All these things apply to India — as they apply to all mankind. And a very crucial hour is drawing near when something has to be decided. Such a decisive hour is drawing near that in these next twenty-five years or so we shall see the whole of humanity meet its end by its own folly… because so many hydrogen bombs and hydrogen bombs have accumulated that one man can be killed seven-seven hundred times. Seven hundred such piles of earth can be destroyed–absolutely. Not only humans will die, animals-birds, plants, and insects, all will die. And the people who have rights over such large explosive devices are almost insane.
Our situation is such that I heard an aeroplane take off in the sky — big jumbo jet — about seven hundred and fifty people in the aeroplane, and suddenly the pilot who was there started laughing so giddily — giggling that his voice on the intercom The sound of laughter was heard by all the passengers. And the giggle was a little disconcerting too, because the giggle was like that of a lunatic. And it just wasn’t stopping. After all, people went and asked what is the matter, why are you laughing? He said that I had escaped from the mental asylum. I was a pilot before… I escaped from the insane asylum. Those people must be looking for me now!… That’s why I am laughing.
You can imagine what must have happened to those seven and a half hundred men! He is a crazy pilot… What is the hope of life now? This colossal energy that has gathered all over the world is in the hands of the politicians — and where can you find a more madman than them! Its keys are in the hands of the lunatics. We are definitely passing through profound danger. Even one of these madmen can start that great destruction! And that great destruction will be chained, if one starts then the other will have to start. And the destruction will be such that no one will win, no one will lose — because everyone will die.
Before this destruction takes place, man should lay down some new foundations of life. Only in meditation can those grounds be laid; Because meditation pacifies a man, frees him from war, frees him from enmity, and frees others from destruction. And it is the meditation that gives man the opportunity to listen to the voice of the inner soul. That’s why all my efforts are focused on one thing how more and more human beings can attain the dignity of meditation. In meditation, the future is of man. And meditation is the only possibility of safety. This sannyas that I am spreading, it is only the people who carry the news of meditation, who can take the fragrance of meditation to far and wide corners of the earth. The more people who engage in meditation, the better; That is the only way for human beings to survive.
