Dear Alumni,

Sai Ram and greetings. I appreciate very much your kindness in inviting me to share my thoughts with you. It is particularly gratifying that so many of you remember me via my Awareness course which I taught for over a decade.

Swami often talked about Awareness, adding that what is important is Constant Integrated Awareness (CIA). In simple terms, ‘CIA’ means seeing Swami in everything, everywhere, all the time; Omnipresence is another word for it. Most of us hardly ever bother about Awareness, Omnipresence, etc. This, Swami says, is because we have largely shut down our Inner Awareness, while boosting external awareness. Stated differently, we are excessively tied to dehabhimaanam or body-consciousness, which automatically diminishes our sensitivity to our latent Divinity. As Swami used to say (paraphrase), “Precious stones like diamonds, pearls, sapphire, etc., are kept in an iron safe. Which is more valuable – the iron safe or the precious stones it holds? You know the answer. Yet, when it comes to themselves, humans give more importance to the ‘casing,’ i.e., the body and the Mind, rather than to the precious jewels within like selfless love, compassion, forbearance, sacrifice and so on. How strange!”

For a moment let me change the perspective and, wearing my scientist hat, look at Omnipresence differently. Modern science has unravelled so many mysteries about Nature. We thus now have a pretty good idea of when our Universe was born, how it expanded and what is accelerating its growth right now, indeed at an astounding rate defying gravity. As for the stars twinkling in the sky in their billions, we no longer have to wonder what they are. We not only know
why stars shine but also about their birth and death cycles, as also about their ultimate fate as White Dwarfs, or as Neutron Stars or even as Black Holes. What is particularly stunning to me is that humans have been able to gather all this knowledge from here on earth. Equally if not more astounding is the fact that scientists are now able to connect the smallest of the small with the largest of the large, and how the ‘Big’ and the ‘Small’ converge in an extraordinary manner at the time the Universe is born. By the way, all the fuss made recently about the discovery of the so-called ‘God particle’ was closely related to all of the above.

Humans are able to do all this and so much more because of the incredible power of the Mind. This awesome power did not come from nowhere or merely through evolution as most biologists believe. As Swami has emphatically declared, the Mind derives its power entirely from the Atma. The question now becomes: “How come the Atma has gifted so much power to the Mind?” Swami has answered that one also. He says that God gave man the Mind so that it could cognize the presence of the Atma and seek to reunite with it. In other words, Swami wants humans to make life a journey back to God.

Once during a Trayee session at which I was present, Swami asked: “What is the purpose of life?” Many answers were given but Swami kept on shaking His head to convey that the answers were all wrong. Finally He smiled and said: “The purpose of life is to go back to God. From God you have come and to Him you must return. That is the only way to achieve permanent bliss or Ananda, and not by chasing the numerous fakes in the world that entice you with pleasure and then trap you deep into misery!” Swami’s delivery was soft and gentle but the message was so powerful that it got etched permanently in my memory.

There is a specific reason why I am mentioning all this. History shows that humans have notched up enormous successes in many areas. For example, smallpox has been totally eliminated. Most of you may not even know what smallpox is. But in my lifetime I have seen smallpox kill millions. However, when it comes to solving problems associated with conflict, greed, etc., all of which are born in the Mind, humans seem helpless. There is a good reason for this which, interestingly enough, was pointed out by a distinguished physicist named David Bohm, who was drawn to Eastern philosophy by the subtle questions raised by quantum mechanics. Drawing from Vedanta, Bohm said that while the Mind is good at creating problems, it fails miserably while attempting solutions; instead it creates even more problems.

For all of us who have grown up with Swami, this is pretty obvious but to the experts of the world engaged in solving socio-economic problems this is not so evident; and the reason for this is swaartham and swaprayojanam, two words that Swami used so often. These traits infect not only individuals but even countries, as is clear from the failure to achieve nuclear disarmament, tackle climate change, etc.

The current hot-button issue in India today is corruption, and the media is full of news about the fight against corruption. Yes, for a country corruption is as dangerous as cancer and it HAS to be rooted out. But can that be achieved merely by passing some laws? As Dr. Kalam astutely remarked, all that laws can do is to fill jails. Many years ago, Swami emphatically declared, “Without individual character, there cannot be any national character.” This is so obvious and yet, I do not see even one person pointing this out and stressing how schools and colleges must play a critical role in fostering character. On the contrary, education in India is increasingly becoming for profit only. In 1981, when Swami established His Institute, there were only nine private universities; today there are over a hundred, almost all of them for minting money.

I won’t prolong this except to say two things. All of you have received the supreme blessing of being described by Bhagawan as His ‘only property’. Much is therefore expected of you and everywhere I find people saying, “Swami’s students alone can help humanity at this juncture.” I know that is a tough call, but then a journey cannot begin unless the first step is taken; and the fact remains that this struggle to restore Dharma simply cannot be shoved under the rug. That said, you must also remember Swami’s assurance that if you take one step towards Him, He would come running towards you taking a hundred, nay even a hundred thousand steps if required.

I am not asking you to plunge into all this overnight, but the next time you come together in a big way, you should have an earnest discussion about how you could help society to get back on the Dharmic track. I am sure Swami would be immensely pleased if you do so; needless to say, such a move would also fill a desperate humanity with the hope that help is at last coming. Think about it!

I thank you again for the courtesy extended to me and wish you all the best. God bless all.

Samastha lokha sukhino bhavantu!
Jai Sai Ram.
GV