From the Chief Editor's Desk: The Culture of 'Sharing and Caring' is called Dev Sanskriti (Divine Culture)
Dev Sanskriti is synonymous with Indian culture. It means the culture which instills and teaches the virtue of sharing and caring. It is but natural for an ordinary human being to desire for something; in fact, there is always a desire to get more than what one already has. But, a deep-rooted and permanent habit like this makes a person selfish and greedy. After a period of time, this can create frenzy that is filled with ego. If the journey of life continues on this path for a long time, then divinity will soon be replaced by evil tendencies. Param Poojya Gurudev has always showed the path towards Divine life through the example of his own life and sadhana. As members of the Divine family established by him, we should always strive to walk the path of righteousness.
Hence, each one of us should consciously learn to 'share and care'. We should always bear in mind that it is this virtue that manifests the divinity within us. Those who have alienated themselves from this quality will always be far from divinity. What we have to think is what we want to nurture in ourselves, our family members, friends and dear ones. Is it Dev Sanskriti or selfishness and demonic madness? We have to answer this question right now. We are seeing the destruction and havoc being created by evil tendencies in our day to day life. Before selfishness and egoism endanger civilization and culture, we should work diligently to promote awareness about Dev Sanskriti amongst the masses.
The precept of giving automatically leads us to the financial angle. You begin to think that you are barely able to make both ends meet. But do you think that 'giving' is limited to just offering money? The meaning and definition of Dev Sanskriti is much more expansive than this narrow thinking. It is so expansive that it treats both the rich and the poor with no bias. Param Poojya Gurudev has time and again stressed that even the poorest of the poor has something to offer for the welfare of others. Sculpting one's own character in a glorious manner is not only beneficial for oneself but is also an important service to the society. Sandalwood makes the trees and shrubs around it also fragrant. A person with noble character is like the sandalwood tree that continuously emits fragrant inspirations to those around him and gives them the courage to tread on the path of righteousness.
Sweet words, encouragement coupled with praise and correct guidance are much more valuable than donating some money. There are many people around us who are emotionally depleted. If you just speak a few words of encouragement, you will be sparking a new wave of life in their being. There are innumerable people who suffer from depression and low self-esteem. If you are able to introduce them to the positive aspects of their personality and encourage them with words filled with praise, you cannot even imagine what new avenues of life you can open for them.
Good behavior, gentleness, simplicity, modesty are in themselves great treasures to possess as part of one's character. We don't often realize how much our empathy, friendship and generosity can affect others. If we try to help others with an attitude of cooperation and service, we can accumulate as much good-will drop by drop that one day it might turn out to be more than those stalwarts who have been able to do that with loads of money.
Donation is not being talked about only in the context of money. There are innumerable ways of giving which are no less significant than giving money. We can invest our time and efforts in working for noble causes. If we have a healthy body, we can serve the sick and the needy. A healthy person can donate blood and save someone's life. The body given by the Almighty is not only precious when we are alive, but also after death. Netradaan or donating the eyes comes in this category where the donor has nothing to lose but he can brighten up and fill somebody's life with new hope.
In our country, there are millions of people who are blind because of patches in cornea. If these people can get another cornea, then their dark life will see a lease of new light. This cornea can be removed from the eyes of a dead person before the body begins to disintegrate. Cornea is a glass-like transparent layer with no blood flow in it. Hence cornea transplant does not have the risk of tissue rejection. If this transplant is done by expert surgeons, there is more than 80% success rate.
Spiritual sadhana is the most efficient method for maintaining a healthy body and pure mind. There is no requirement for any physical abilities or resources to practice this. All that is required is a life disciplined by penance, spiritual sadhana, noble thinking and a life of surrender to the Almighty.
An experiment of fervent prayer for relief is appropriate for those who are in pain or difficulty. A victim is a victim. He is neither a friend nor a foe; neither rich nor poor; neither someone born in a low or high caste. We can pray for them from the bottom of our hearts. The power of this prayer is much more than millions of rupees donated. The most incurable diseases can be cured through prayer. Most challenging and difficult circumstances can be surmounted through prayer. All this requires is a life of true sadhana, empathetic heart that responds to the pain of others, simple and pure life devoid of any malice.
With Prayer-filled Guru Poornima Greetings,
(Pranav Pandya)
"Sishya Papam, Gurum Vrajet — The sins done by students are burnt by Guru's Tapa." — Neeti Shastram
"Yogah, Chitta Vritti Nirodhah — Yoga is the control of thoughts in the mind." — Patanjali
"Dharmo Rakshati Rakshita — Dharma will protect the one who protects Dharma." — Artha Shastram