Acharya Tulsi
Whatever exists in this world is imperfect. That is why man strives towards perfection. He tries to be better than what he is and to get more than what he has. The fifth convention of the Therapanth Yuvak Parishad is a link in this continuous effort.
Every young man has some problems before him: What does he wish to be? What does he wish to do? And how does he wish to do it?
He has to be a successful person. For that purpose, he has to take society towards success. How a person is shaped does not depend entirely on him, but on society to some extent. That is why he has to see his own making in the context of the making of society.
The first step of success is change of values. Creating a new society means changing values. When the values of self- interest and accumulation of wealth thrive, the individual thrives and society becomes weak. Strong character cannot develop in a weak society. Today's society is weak in the real sense. It is necessary to develop the values that would lead to the abandonment of self-interest. Society would grow strong with the strengthening of such values. Strong society would create strong characters. No one would remain weak. I have seen that a society given to self-interest and accumulation of wealth has given rise to all kinds of cruel and immoral practices. Is it not the duty of today's society- minded individual to change such a society?
The second formula for success is development of strength which has two sources: mental development and organisation.
It is necessary to have an understanding practising of dharma for mental development. That is being done and the preparation for doing it are under way. I take my presence here as preparation to follow dharma.
The power of organisation is much in evidence that it is not necessary to have any discussion about it. Our respected Swami Bhikshu had understood the value of organisation two centuries ago. Do his followers require to understand that point even now?
No organisation can be strengthened without developing the attitude of affection and sympathy. Today everything is happening on the basis of accumulated power. That is why organisation has become unavoidable. Petty matters should not cause obstruction in carrying out such a great task.
The third formula of success is the realistic understanding of what is eternal and what is subject to change.
Some situations transcend the limitations of time and space. There is no need to change them. But not changing the things related to time and space when the situations change, is the main cause of failure. The youth should have a very clear viewpoint with regard to change. Changing in itself is not the aim and not changing is not significant in itself. Changing when it is necessary to change is the inevitable process of development.
The fourth formula of success is the constructive approach with regard to the solution of the present-day problems.
Not understanding the problems of our age means the rejection of the reality of the times. Anyone who rejects the reality of his times can never make any progress. It is not sufficient just to understand the problems. It is extremely important to adopt a constructive approach to find out the solution of those problems. In the present age, violence is becoming a pressing problem everywhere. Acts of sabotage are rampant. This ruinous situation cannot be solved by closing our eyes to it or by adopting a negative stance. It can be solved by developing a humane and sympathetic outlook.
Bhagwan Mahavira gave us the formula of non-violence and an attitude of syadavad or many dimensional nature of truth. This is a very broad outlook and on that basis we have to do the following:
- Treating everyone as friend and increasing our own strength.
- Developing non-communal outlook and confirming our own faith.
- Changing social life and enhancing self-restraint.
The fifth formula for success is endeavour. All the good things in the world can be achieved only through endeavour. We have some great tasks on our hands. We have anuvrat which aims at moral development and there is the Jain Vishwa Bharati for the development of a relative outlook. These two most important tasks can be carried out only by the endeavour of competent persons.
It seems to me that some young people would be taking the initiative in this direction. They would start a new tradition by devoting their time and energy by merging their individual interest in the collective interest. This is by no means a new tradition. But I am describing it as such because it is not in vogue in our Sangh. This tradition prevails in several other organisations. It has to be brought into our Sangh. The 25th centenary of Bhagwan Mahavira's nirvana is soon coming. We have the plans ready for the devotees. The youth have to play a great role to play in it. I am confident that the members of the Therapanth Yuvak Parishad would enthusiastically march forward in these directions.
