Gurudev Chitrabhanu
In meditation we experience the bliss of this harmony, this concord
Friends. We have concentrated on the four virtues which came to me on Mount Abu: amity, appreciation, compassion, and equanimity. These are the four pillars which support the whole structure of my philosophy. They are the foundation on which a life can be built and rebuilt.
NOW we come to the final lines of this song, “Let the spirit of goodwill enter into all our hearts. Let us all sing in chorus the joyous song of human concord."
Today we will concentrate on concord. Concord implies our hearts are together in agreement and harmony. It is not a matter of similarity or identity between us; but, like separate notes in music, we can create harmony rather than disharmony.
By “song", I do not mean a vocal song, but a song of service and action. Before we build unity in the world, which is necessary today if we are to survive, there must be a feeling of brotherhood, of concord. Our discord destroys the fabric of life long before we reach the point of physical destruction. Men who can reach the moon, can't reach one another across differences of opinion and interest! We have one world, a planet we can fly around in a matter of hours! But our song is still the national anthem, limiting us to one or another country, rather than a song of concord uniting us to the universe and mankind.
No one torchbearer or bridge builder, saint or sage, prophet, or social reformer can by himself do much in building the world without co-operation from many others. We all have to join together to turn this earth into a paradise.
Though we are individuals, we are parts of this cosmos, whether we act in harmony or discord. As the popular saying goes, “Some are part of the problem, and some are part of the solution." Millions died in plagues until others developed medicine. Millions have died in wars, but others will establish the world of peace and justice and unity. So as monads in one whole, even our disharmony can call us to bring about unity and harmony.
All our endeavors call for collaboration, co-operation, corporate effort and concord. We cannot build a car single- handed. We cannot build a road single-handed. We cannot build science and technology single-handed. Philosophers in ancient Greece and also in India had intuitions concerning atomic theory, and the interrelation of matter and energy, but it was not until science developed as a corporate endeavor that such insights could give man the tremendous control he has over the physical world. AS Einstein said, science is born from transcendent experience. However, it is science as a corporate effort that has given us technology, which can be used either for destruction, or for construction.
We must work together, like the five fingers of the hand. Every single finger, as well as the thumb, is an indispensable part of the hand. They work in unison; each by itself would be of little value. Every individual is likewise a member of society, and we are all interdependent. If each one acts only with selfish motives without contributing to the whole, there will be no unity, no strength, no progress, no happiness.
Love and hope lead to concord. Fear leads to divisiveness and strife. Love and hope start in the home. We have to give our children basic trust. Concord between husband and wife shows the child a world united and not divided. In a world that is divided and hostile, the individual becomes divided; and without love of self and for others, distrust and fear prepare for defensiveness and vengeance.
To sing the song of concord gives us a sense of well-being that we can have no other way. As the poet William Blake said, “The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship." This is what we have when we meditate together. In Sanskrit, it is called “sat-sang", the company of people with permanent values. This helps greatly to develop the personality, and to bring it closer to the realization of the true and permanent self.
We can often observe far more concord in a herd of deer or a flock of birds than in people on a city street, or even in the suburbs or a small town. Man seems to act in concord only if he is facing an enemy, or is in some emergency, such as a black-out. According to the Darwinian theory, man is an animal; and psychologists have presented the aggressive animal in man. However, man has capacities for both creativity and destructiveness far beyond that of animals! Animal species do not torture, burn alive, draw and quarter other animals.
There is an Indian folk tale about a lion cub who came stealing out of its den and caught sight of a large army marching by. The sight of men carrying rifles and bayonets scared him so he slunk back and sought the warm shelter of his mother's side. Feeling him quake, she asked, “What is wrong, my pet ~ You are a lion cub. You will be king of the jungle." „But mother, look out“, quavered the cub. Glancing out, the lioness saw the army marching past. “Oh, that!" she said disdainfully. “That's the species that has an army to slaughter its own kind."
However, it is man's nature that he can confront his nature, and the nature of nature. Still, some people project their creative potential onto gods, and their potential for evil onto the devil and evil spirits! When we project evil onto Satan or evil spirits or an enemy, we cannot recognize and overcome it in our-selves. And while we are worshipping a god, we cannot become like him. We propitiate him, and beg him to defend and protect us, instead of making ourselves responsible for building peace and unity! We must be love, be responsibility, be the power of love and light.
We shall have to actualize concord in recognizing our true nature if humanity is to be saved from self-destruction by the weapons that science and technology have produced. It is said that the basic law of all biological life is, “Grow or perish." And we will have to see our inner enemies, and sing in concord the song of light and love, in order to grow and build a unified world based on co-operation. The path which leads from barbarism and savagery to civilization is a path of non-violence, of amity, of appreciation, compassion, equanimity, concord.
The song of concord is joyous. To live is good. TO live vividly is better. TO live vividly together is best. Concord with all life, harmony with the universe, is the orchestration for love between individuals. Love between individuals is the bond of an inner sense of collective happiness. Love is not being self-centered, but being other- centered.
... Love has the eyes of a mother.
... Love hails vastness.
... Love enhances peace.
... Love gives rise to self-respect.
Concord comes from the word “cardia", meaning heart, so it means our hearts are together.
Now we will meditate.... In meditation we are alone, yet in consonance with the cosmos.
In meditation we experience the bliss of this harmony, this concord.
THOUGHTS
- Our song of concord is one of attullement to mankind the planet and the universe.
- To recognize our true nature, we must realize that we encompass all qualities. From that promise learn to select and demonstrate only those qualities which will lead to harmony on the planet.
- Our song of concord is a song of service and action of confidence and collaboration; our concord must include the opposition.
