Every man has his origin in Truth. He is sustained by Truth. And he merges in Truth. He is the embodiment of Truth. When every individual recognizes this truth, the whole world will be permeated by Truth. What man should seek today is not pleasure. Nor is his goal sorrow. Man should bring under his control the source of pleasure and pain. More than pleasure, it is pain that awakens the wisdom in man. If you study the lives of great men, you find that it is out of trouble and pain that they derived wisdom. Without sorrow there can be no wisdom. It is pain that teaches many wise lessons to man. Not realizing this profound truth, man pursues pleasure endlessly. No doubt man needs to be happy. But how is happiness to be achieved? It is only when sorrow is overcome that man realizes happiness. Hence everyone should welcome sorrow in the same spirit in which he greets happiness. 

Pain and pleasure are intermingled. 
No one can separate them. 
Pleasure is never alone by itself. 
When pain is relieved, pleasure is experienced. [Telugu Poem]. 

Wherefrom does pleasure come? When pain is got rid of, pleasure is secured. Treat pleasure and pain alike as divine gifts In our country today the young boys and girls are the inheritors of the prosperity or poverty of the nation. The future progress of the nation depends on them. Hence, these boys and girls are the true wealth of the nation. It has to be realized that man is the architect of his own pleasure and pain. Hence he should face with equanimity whatever happens to him – good or evil. God is described as Siddhiswaroopa (the embodiment of wish fulfillment). He is also described as Amogha (One without a limit or measure). This means that the power of the Divine is infinite. He is also known as Aprameya (the immeasurable). Hence, everyone should treat whatever happens to him as a gift from God. Pleasure and pain should be treated alike as Divine gifts. There is a unique joy in this process. In daily life we tend to treat defeat, loss or grief as calamities. But, nothing occurs in the world without a cause. Hunger is the cause for eating. Thirst is the cause for drinking. Difficulties are the cause of sorrow. If man is to enjoy enduring happiness, he must discover the source of such happiness. That source is love (prema). There is nothing greater than love in this world. Everything has a price. The price to be paid for enduring happiness is Divine Love. Without Love, no object can give you real happiness. Hence, the primary wealth for man is Love. Everyone should seek to acquire this wealth. With this wealth anyone can enjoy enduring bliss.

We witness in the world all kinds of pains and sorrows. But none of these is permanent. Every term of pain is followed by pleasure. The experience of pleasure is refined and enhanced by the earlier experience of pain. Like the refinement of gold by melting in a crucible, pain divinises the pleasure that follows it. The New Year or a new month does not bring with it any new joy or sorrow. As the earlier speaker said, every moment is new. Every second is new, because it heralds the march of time. A year is in fact a succession of seconds turning into minutes, days and months. It is only when every moment is cherished as new, will the new year become new. The sacred way in which every moment is spent will determine the fruitfulness of the year. If you wish to lead a sacred life and have sacred experiences, you must engage yourself in sacred actions. The good and evil in the world can be changed only by the change in men’s actions. Transformation of society must start with transformation of individuals.

01 January 1998, Morning 
Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam