Message of Peace

Saints and sages have always taught that hidden inside us is the universe,but we don't know ourselves. That is why we wander everywhere in search of peace, but we don't find the peace that we are looking for.

Every father wants peace in his family. Relatives want peace in their homes. All members of society want peace. Citizens of a nation also want to live in peace. Why do we have such huge armies and police forces? To maintain peace. The United Nations was created for peace, so that nations could discuss, negotiate and talk about peace. However, until our lives are peaceful, until our family life is peaceful, our society cannot be peaceful.

The saints said that the Holy Name is the giver of peace, of bliss and perfect joy and if you meditate on it, you will feel peace. This mental peace has been expressed in different words, such as knowledge, samadhi, experience of God. Different religions have given it different names, and so different beliefs have arisen from the difference in languages, but peace is the same for everyone. Everyone wants peace and to get it, we have to search for the Truth. The Chinese saint Lao-Tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your foot." In the same way, your search for Truth must begin within yourself.

We all want to have peace, but we tend to take the longest route. We always want to go though maya, through materialism, but peace is not there. If you cannot find peace within, then you cannot find it elsewhere. So all the saints have taught that if you want peace, then go within. Saints have the power to change human nature, to change society through Knowledge. This spiritual revolution is a revolution of individuals, because it changes individual natures. It is not a violent revolution.

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj once said during a discourse at Bodh Gaya, "What is going on in society today is there for all to see. Even though India is the land where Divine Masters lived and taught, nowadays the poison of untouchability and prejudice is eating away at society like a cancer. Despite all the laws and legal structures which have been created, man still hates man. Why? Doesn't he realise the God also dwells in the lowly and the downtrodden? We feel like this because we have lost our spiritual vision. We have forgotten the Knowledge which turned a prince into a Buddha. We have lost contact with the experience which changed people into saints and sages.

'Here at Bodh Gaya, where Buddha meditated and discovered the Way for one and all, we eulogies that experience and hope that it can spread throughout the world, so that man may tear down the walls of mistrust and prejudice and love all people as fellow human beings. India is crowned by the world's highest peaks which seem to be saying, 'Make yourselves lofty like us! Knock down the walls of hatred and nurture noble thoughts in your minds!'

People from other countries have always been attracted to India. Throughout history, famous explorers and travellers journeyed to India from China, Japan, Tibet, Indonesia and Europe, because India has always been known as the land of spirituality. India's saints and sages developed a universal spiritual path which can guide the entire human race. India has always exalted the ideal of non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Real education is the evolution of the spirit", but nowadays we are making zero spiritual progress. Our spiritual heritage teaches us to help one another, to love our fellow man. Whatever you share with others comes back to you multiplied.

A little while ago, here in the Temple, I wanted to light some candles. I didn't have any matches, so I used a lit candle to light the others. In the same way, divine Masters are like lit candles. Why do thousands of pilgrims come to this Temple? Because Lord Buddha was himself a lighted candle, and simply by his touch those who were in darkness, like unlit candles, saw Light. When a snake hears music - i.e. vibrations - for instance, it forgets its natural tendency to bite. In the same way, the vibration of Spiritual Knowledge neutralises the negative tendencies within us.

So we are here to pay homage to the divine experience that Siddhartha had, due to which he is worshipped around the world. If we have the same experience, our lives will also be transformed. Society and the times can only be changes when we ourselves change. When we change, society will also change and our children will inherit a Golden Age.