The Light of the atman, the Light of the self, the Light of the spirit – it was around this that our glorious culture was built in ancient India. This culture was known as atma vidya.
Spirituality is a shakti, it has to be evoked, kindled through disciplines like yoga and meditation. For this, it is essential to have a guru, a mentor, who can show you the way.
Swami Vivekananda was an inspiration to the youth of this country. He believed that India’s spirituality alone could save our sinking civilisation. He was, himself, a mighty spiritual genius who carried to the modern west the message of India’s ancient wisdom – which, to use Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani’s words, is that there can be no true freedom without spirituality and that no man is free until he is master of himself.
I request you to dwell upon this idea: there can be no true freedom without spirituality. The young are very conscious of their need for freedom. Of all the aspects of human life, perhaps spirituality is likely to seem rather remote and unfamiliar to the youth. Discipline is becoming conspicuous by its fast disappearance in the world today! May I suggest to you that we also require spiritual discipline to attain self-knowledge which is the ultimate goal of education. Of what use is any form of knowledge, if we lack knowledge of the self?
If Indian culture and civilisation have survived the ravages of time against all odds, it is only because we have a message to give to the modern world – that there can be no true freedom without spirituality.
Long ago when darkness brooded over Western civilisation, India was strong and vital. And she was acclaimed as the leader of the nations, a builder of civilisation. Much has she suffered through the centuries. Great has been her agony. And today, she lies prostrated and weak. But India is not defeated. And India will never defeated be, as long as her people cling to the vision of the sages who saw that the Root of life is God. Love God and love your fellow-men! In love is the solution to all the problems which afflict modern civilisation. In love is the secret of the peace which men and nations alike are seeking.
*August 15 is India’s Independence Day.
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
