All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Understand these truths life are truly wise.

This universe is continuously evolving. The cycle of change is ever active. Those who understand this truth and prepare themselves stand to benefit, while others have to face difficulties. Let’s consider the example of seasonal cycles. Monsoon follows summer. Winter sets in right after monsoon. This is a definite cycle and that does not change as per our convenience. We have to mold ourselves in accordance with the seasons. The transitional phases are always troublesome. Those who manage to prepare themselves for these changes stands to gain and stays comfortable. Those who don’t prepare themselves for monsoon will see their roofs leaking, taps drying up and slush all around. But those who gear themselves up for monsoon will see their fields and ponds filled with adequate water. They enjoy the profit from a good harvest.

If you are not prepared for cold weather, you end up shivering and suffering from the ill-effects and diseases owing to cold weather. Those who brace themselves up for winter are spared these hardships. As part of preparation, they do requisite exercises to digest the partaken food and lay the foundation for good health and longevity. Our ancestors have formulated certain rules and life style guidelines based on which we can make best use of seasonal changes. Those who are ignorant of this knowledge and those who merely sing praises and do not practice cannot derive any benefit from the experience of our ancestors. Those who imbibe these principles in their daily life are truly wise.

In the process of Era Transformation

Just like seasonal cycles, era transformation also follows a cyclic structure. Just like a meteorologist predicts weather and informs everyone about the forecast, similarly exponents of scientific spirituality and rishis create awareness in the public about the coming changes in the era. Those who are wise and react to these messages not only align their life style but also convey it to their near and dear ones. Such people transition smoothly when the change occurs and can use the changed circumstances optimally. Others tackle change with grievances and remain unhappy on being forced to face different conditions.

Ancient rishis and saints have written a lot about era transformation and the thinkers and modern- day saints have also made people aware of this from time to time. [A separate article titled ‘Is this a phase of epochal change?’ in this issue itself deals with this aspect.] Saint Bahaullah, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and others have given sufficient indications about the era transformation in their messages. Yugrishi Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya has thrown light on each and every aspect of era transformation. He has written at length about the changes that will come in emotions, thoughts, talents and finances. While writing about each of these aspects he has given clear guidelines on how to adopt the right approach and what’s to be done to stay away from undesirable outcomes of these changes.

Those people who believed in his thoughts and followed them in their life will surely reap the benefits in the form of personal happiness, attaining respect in the society and gaining divine grace, while others who ignored will have to face the consequences. Following are Acharyasri’s own words –

“The entire scheme of Yug Nirman Yojana works on this basis. I have given stern warning as well as inspiration to each one of the parijans to mould their lives in accordance with the upcoming changes. Each and every soul has a specific duty and responsibility towards achieving this goal. Taking active part in this Divine plan is the first and foremost objective of all those people living today. This should be understood very well and acted upon.”

Those with clairvoyance have done their duty and now it is left to the society to either make use of it or not.

Current economic storm

Presently, all of us are facing extremely challenging situation in the financial realm. Since times immemorial, people have been giving undue importance to money. They had forgotten that money was just a medium through which the necessities of life could be acquired so that a happy personal, familial and social life could be attained. Out of ignorance, people began to perceive means as an end. The ultimate aim is to have a happy and progressive life. Money, property, wealth and other resources are just a means to achieve this aim. The moment money became the aim of life, people entered this blind race of accumulating it meaninglessly. Even worse, people began to be evaluated based on he wealth they possessed. This had its own ill consequences. In the words of Yugrishi –

“It is most unfortunate that humanity is giving utmost importance to money today. It is as a consequence of this that everyone wants to accumulate wealth so as to gain respect in the society. The real use of money is to keep it continuously flowing by putting it to use for some good cause or another. Stagnated water in a ditch or food in the stomach gets rotten and leads to a host of ailments. Money stashed in lockers makes the person intoxicated and spreads bad influence in the society.” - Hamari Yug Nirman Yojana Part-I (1972)

Now, a majority of the people have come to believe that this tendency of wealth accumulation has led to increase of black money which can at any point in time create an artificial crisis in the society and terrorize people much to the pleasure of hoarders and money launderers. This money becomes the medium for flourishing of drug markets, terrorists, separatists and smugglers. To get rid of these ulcers in the society, government has taken a very bold step. Whoever has hoarded wealth, their life is in jeopardy and they are losing sleep over it. In this context, yugrishi had long back given a message in very clear words. Here are some of his words of wisdom from a book titled ‘Yug Nirman Yojana Part-I” (1972) – “Some bitter truths must be understood by the rich people. In the coming years, the wealthy people are not the one who will be respected. In fact, they will be looked down upon as those stone-hearted ones who have turned their heads away from social welfare and will be rejected as cowards. A social system, in which wealth will not be owned by individuals but by the society, is approaching us fast like an incoming typhoon.”

If such clearly-spoken words are not understood by anyone, they certainly have to suffer the consequences of that. In the process of individual development, entire society has to face difficult situations. All people, good or bad end up suffering some inconvenience. This is what is being seen today. It is best to take demonetization as an essential step towards creating a glorious future and accept the resultant inconvenience gracefully.

Difficult process but a fortunate opportunity

In the process of creating a glorious future, man has to undergo some difficult situations. A student has to study day and night. A sportsman has to put in enormous hard work. In this process of creating a better society, something similar is happening. Yugrishi has written in clear words – “The coming 30 years will be most difficult and worrisome for humanity. It is just like for the mother who is about to undergo the pangs of delivery. Each and every moment is filled with restlessness and apprehension. All transformations are difficult. Inflation, famine, drought, revolution, chaos and other situations are seen every now and then. In the coming days we have to gear up for some natural disasters and small-time cold and hot wars. When useless clay needs to be moulded into useful pots and utensils, it has to undergo pounding, moulding, drying and heating. No transformation comes without its set of difficult processes.

For humanity to be evolved into a refined race in the next 30 years, it has to undergo a variety of difficult situations. Man is also not wise enough to leave the wrong path and come onto the right path by merely asking him to do so. Stubborn people have to be corrected by force and the Nature is going to take strict actions in making this possible.”

Whenever mother or father or teacher or God takes some severe actions, these are always directed towards the real well-being of their wards. There definitely is a wonderful consequence behind all the difficulties being faced today. Yugrishi has given some clear indications as follows:

“Nobody should be worried or afraid about the truths mentioned above. What is required is to accept this to be ordained by God and align your life style and activities accordingly. Evolve into a forward-looking person and reap the benefits of that vision. Lanka was about to be demolished, rakshasas were to be killed and Lord Sriram was to win the battle. Those monkeys and bears who realized this upfront came and helped Lord Sriram. Though they had limited resources, they have become immortal for the help they rendered. Bhagirath was fortunate that he realized the possibility of bringing down the Ganges and did intense penance to achieve the same. Because of this Mother Ganga came to be known as Bhagirathi. India was to get independence. All those people like Tilak, Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, Subhash, etc who saw this possibility and worked for it became immortal. It is most prudent if one can realize the Divine Plan and gather courage to participate and be the front runners in that. These opportunities come very rarely and those who miss out on them will only end up repenting later on.”

People often read history and say that if they were able to forecast the significance of coming times, they would certainly make use of the opportunity and spearhead the activities. Param Pujya Gurudev has given this opportunity to all the people associated with this gigantic mission. It is left to each individual as to how much benefit they derive out of it. Gurudev has given clear guidelines as below –

“The family members of Akhand Jyoti are being inspired to look and evaluate the rapidly changing situations and decide for themselves if they have a special responsibility to discharge during these transitory times. The mark of a fool is to be bound by some single notion and remain so like a bull that moves round and round to extract oil in a ghani. A fool neither corrects his mistakes nor identifies new opportunities. So there is no point in preaching such people because they are not ready to heed your advice. Such people can be brought to their senses by the blows of Nature. Only the wise can be made to understand by words.”

There will be many challenges which will do a litmus test of the prudence of the intelligentsia. According to our divine culture ‘Parigrah’ (excessive possessions) is said to be a great sin. That very trait today is being extolled as a symbol of greatness, success and prosperity. Whatever are the consequences of a sin are bound to surface and saving yourselves and others from it depends on your ability.

Today, misuse of currency notes has been curtailed by the process of demonetization. It is necessary to free the society from the shackles of misuse of other forms of wealth too. Such measures will also be taken as per the Divine plan. Only a smart move is to restrain oneself from uncontrollable greed. Align yourselves to the changes so that you are spared from the difficulties and stay happy and contented.