The Challenge-Part VI

In the early part of the 20th century. Mahatma Gandhi was a barrister. He lived with his wife and children and frequented a club in the evenings. He went to South Africa. There he stirred up dissension over the slavery he saw. From then onwards he began dedicating himself to Bharat. His thoughts changed. His mind changed. Mr. M.K.Gandhi became mahatma Gandhi for everyone. Remember, it is hot an accident. Mahatma Gandhi was one in a million in a generation.

There are people who say these things occur because of historical conditions. Historical conditions are necessary. They are right. But let people who speak thus produce a Gandhi, historical conditions remaining the same. There are about 400 million people in this country. Why did this Gujarathi vaishya alone become a Mahatma? What made him rise up? What about your father, his father or my father? They never came up thus in life. Why? When you say he became great because of a historical accident, it is an excuse. But the question still arises why history chose him and no one else. There must have been in him some great qualities to attract the blessings of the country. Those qualities were not in him when he was born. New qualities were created in him. By changing his thoughts, he changed his mind, and when the mind changed, the man also changed.

Therefore, in order to create an attractive personality out of ourselves, there must be beauty in our actions. Beauty will be absent in our actions unless our minds are under our control. We know ideals, but we are unable to express them. It is earlier mentioned that the mind is the thought flow. The mind is constituted of thoughts. As the mind, so the man. If I can bring out a revolution of thoughts in me, I will have to stamp out my meager personality and create for myself my own greater destiny.

When I speak of these things, they are not my own ideas. These are truths from the Upanishads, repeatedly declared by the Masters who dynamically brought them out in the world. It is not like a theory taught in a science class. Even there your professor does not teach his own theory - it is not a personal theory we want. Similarly, I do not give you my own ideas. I only present the ideas as revealed by Christ in the Bible, by Mohammed in the Koran, Krishna in the Geeta, the rishis in the Upanishads; by the mighty Masters. I give you the essence from them.

To be continued

About the author

Swami Chinmayananda

Swami Chinmayananda the great master's lectures were an outpour of wisdom. He introduced the Geetha Gnana Yagna. He wrote a lot of books on spirituality, commentaries to Vedantic texts, children books etc. He then started spreading His teachings globally.....