Address In Sri Sathya Sai International Centre And School

Evolution of Prosperous, Happy and Peaceful Society

I am indeed delighted to be here in this Sai International Centre Auditorium and interact with you. I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you. Let us remember at this moment, the divine soul that adores Prasanthi Nilayam, an abode that radiates the spirit of giving. Who ever goes to him, he gives; it may be a free quality education, drinking water, free quality healthcare, food for orphans or a soothing touch for the disturbed minds. He is Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who is a spiritual presence and a divine spark providing happiness for millions of people.

At this point I would like to recall a poem written in a full moonlit night. There was a divine echo in the full moon night from my creator. Shaken, bewildered and wondered, the echo engulfed me and my race:

"You, the human race is the best of my creation

You will live and live

You give and give till you are united,

in human happiness and pain.

My bliss will be born in you.

Love is continuum

That is the mission of the humanity"

Friends, I imagine an environment, where every one of those who have assembled here, starts giving, like what Sri Sathya Sai Baba has taught us. How many problems and how much of pain of our people can be removed if every one develops the spirit of giving? Please go on giving. God will bless you. Giving means not just giving resources alone. Give happiness, love, respect and service to the people. Then only our lives will blossom into a beautiful habitat on this planet. When we recall such noble thoughts, we should be aware that man is at war. I would like to discuss about the study which I have done for a decade on the dynamics of war on the planet earth.

Dynamics of Warfare

It is evident that man lives on wars. We distinctly see that pattern of warfare has three parts: upto 1920, 1920-1990, after 1990. The first part was human warfare period. Motivation for human warfare was either territorial greediness or wealth ambitions or religious domination which in combination later led to the First World War 1914. The second period- 1920-1990 - was a mechanized warfare period. During this period the world graduated to the use of new mechanized weapons and platforms - battle tanks, fighter aircrafts and submarines. The motivation was ideological conflicts between two societies, one side former Soviet Union and otherside USA and related countries. Second World War also witnessed the disaster by the deployment of nuclear bombs on two cities of Japan. Also, it resulted in accumulation of 10,000 nuclear warheads each side. During the third period from 1990 we see economic warfare and globalisation. The tool used is the supremacy of the technology which led to technology denials and control regimes separating the nations as "Developed", "Developing" and " Under Developed". In 2003, the world is facing a new kind of warfare, integrated situation of religious conflicts, ideological differences and economic-market warfare. We have witnessed always that war adds to wars, of course there will be a time gap. How do we combat these complex integrated phenomena of conventional warfare threat, cross border terrorism, insurgency and threat of nuclear attacks? In the next few minutes I would like to share my thoughts and some possible solutions.

Reasons for Terrorism

Terrorism results from various factors like difference in ideologies, religious fanaticism, discrimination, and enmity between organizations and nations. Constant deprivation leads to frustration - frustration on provocation leads to alienation. Alienation can manifest itself in two forms - passivism and activism. Activism can manifest itself in constructive or destructive modes. Constructive mode leads to development; destructive mode leads to terrorism, violence and aggression. Certain nations have been indulging in cross border terrorism mercilessly. We need to collectively address these sources of disturbance by formulating visionary policies for national development and by executing those mission projects with hard work and sweat.

Visionary Policies for National Development

Poverty, illiteracy and un- employment are driving forward the forces of anger and violence. These forces link themselves to historical enmity, tyranny and injustice, ethnic issues and religious fundamentalism flowing into an outburst of terrorism worldwide. Those who claim to love the Creator but hate His creation are indeed living in self deception. But, society which includes you and me, have to address ourselves to the root causes of such phenomena which are poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.

Visionary Policies for National Development

After 50 years of progress, the aspirations are mounting that India should become a developed country. This is the second vision for the nation. How can we prepare ourselves to this challenge? To become a developed India, the essential needs are (a) India has to be economically and commercially powerful, at least to be one of the four top nations in terms of size of the economy. Our target should be a GDP growth of 9% annually and that the people below poverty line ( currently 260 million ) to be reduced to near zero. (b) near self-reliance in defence needs of weapon, equipment with no umbilical attached to any outside world. (c) India should have a right place in world forums. India Millennium Mission 2020 is a pathway to realise this cherished mission.

India Millennium Mission 2020

Five areas have been identified where India has core competence for an integrated action. (1) Agriculture and food processing - we have to put a target of 360 million tons of food and agricultural production. Other areas of agriculture and agro food processing would bring prosperity to rural people and speed up the economic growth. (2) Reliable and quality electric power for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare - we have seen, based on the experience, education and healthcare are inter related. (4) Information Communication Technology - This is one of our core competence. We believe, this area can be used to promote education and healthcare in remote areas and also to create national wealth. (5) Strategic sectors - This area, fortunately, witnessed the growth in nuclear technology, space technology and defence technology. Self reliance needs to be focused to counter the technology denials. Other areas like Advanced Sensors and Materials would need a push. These five areas are closely inter-related and would lead to national, food, and economic security. A strong partnership among the R&D, academy, Industry and the community as a whole with the Government departments will be essential to accomplish the vision.

Global Outlook for Universal Harmony

Every human being in this planet has a right to live with dignity; has a right to aspire for distinction. Availability of a large number of opportunities to resort to just and fair means in order to attain that dignity and distinction, is what democracy is all about. That is what our Constitution is all about. And that is what makes life wholesome and worth living in a true and vibrant democracy. At this point, I would like to remind all of us that at social levels it is necessary to work for Unity of Minds. The increasing intolerance for views of others and increasing contempt about ways of lives of others or their religions or the expressions of these differences through lawless violence against people cannot be justified in any context. All of us have to work hard and do everything possible to make our behaviour civilised to protect the rights of every individual. That is the very foundation of the democratic values. Human happiness has two components: Economic prosperity and spiritual enrichment. We have discussed both. At this juncture I am reminded of a beautiful song emanating from Prasanthi Nilayam, which works for global peace through the orderly development of enlightened citizens.

Divine Message from Prasanthi Nilayam

Where there is righteousness in the heart,

there is beauty in the character.

When there is beauty in the character,

there is harmony in the home.

When there is harmony in the home,

there is order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation,

there is peace in the world. .

It is a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world. This divine statement has come as a result of transforming religion into spiritualism by Thapas. The purpose of real education is to initiate learning process that transforms children as good human being with knowledge and value system.

Divine Message from Prasanthi Nilayam

Tamil poem composed 1,000 years ago by Awaiyar which in translation reads thus :

'It is rare to be born as a human being

It is still more rare to be born without any deformity

Even if you are born without any deformity

It is rare to acquire knowledge and education

Even if one could acquire knowledge and education

It is still rare to do offerings and tapas

But for one who does offerings and tapas

The doors of heaven open to greet him.'

That means, it is very rare to be born as a human being in this universe where several billion varieties of life exist, In spite of having been blessed by god to be born as human being, it is very very rare to be born without any defects like deaf, blind and mute. Even if we are blessed so, it is ultimate tapas and love that has to become part of human life. In such a state of self evolution the bliss shines in human life.

Conclusion

Friends, for evolution of prosperous, happy and peaceful society what we need is freedom from war, war with in the mind, war outside and above all human heart for giving and empowerment of people. The road map for graduating into an enlightened human being will have to include education with value system, religions graduating into spirituality and visionary policies graduating India into a developed nation. I believe, an enlightened human being can be evolved when all these three elements are properly combined as a long term dedicated solution for our nation. Fortunately we are fully equipped for such a transformation to become a developed nation. A beautiful India can be generated by beautiful minds. Beautiful minds are creative. This creativity leads the nation to be economically prosperous and spiritually empowered and emerge as a God blessed nation