Cultivate Satwic Qualities Right from Childhood

Hence, you have to partake of sathwic food, keeping your goal of liberation in the mind.

You may at times have a doubt that you may not get such sathwic food. I do not at all agree with this view. Don’t you get vegetables and edible green leaves in plenty? In fact, the moment you are born out of your mother’s womb, you are surviving and thriving on your mother’s milk or cow’s milk. Is this not sathwic food? Can you not live upon a vegetarian diet consisting of vegetables, green leaves, and cow’s milk?

Why should you cater to the dictates of your palate, adding chillies, salt, tamarind, and spices? It is only when you gradually reduce these ingredients for taste you will be able to cultivate sathwa guna. Parents have a great responsibility in teaching the children about the efficacy of sathwic food and getting them accustomed to it right from their childhood. On the other hand, if the parents themselves prepare and serve rajasic and thamasic food consisting of meat, fish, etc., in their homes, how can they expect the children to develop sathwa guna?

I am of the view that the children at least should abstain from such rajasic and thamasic food and demand from their parents only sathwic food. One has to consciously cultivate the habit of partaking of only sathwic food. Only then will one be able to develop sathwa guna.

Embodiments of Love!

All our senses are conditioned by the trigunas, and the gunas, in turn, are conditioned by the food we consume. Hence, if we start eating sathwic food, undertake sathwic karmas and move about in the company of sathwic friends, I am sure that we can transform ourselves into sathwic individuals. It is bad company that is responsible for evil qualities. If you want to cultivate good qualities, you have to eat sathwic food. In fact, it is the food that we consume is responsible for all the evil qualities.

Dear students!

If you develop bad qualities like anger, passion, envy, jealousy, etc., right from this early age, your entire life will be spoiled. You are poisoning your young minds with these evil qualities. My advice to the youngsters and students is eat sathwic food; cultivate sathwic behaviour, and keep the company of sathwic people right from this early age.

I often observe that youngsters today join bad company the moment they enter the school or college and continue to move about in the company of bad people. With the result that they cultivate bad qualities, resulting in bad behaviour. Frequently, they are not even aware of the subtle changes taking place in their behaviour toward elders, parents, teachers, and society. They think that they are on the right track, since they are pursuing education in a good educational institution. The education they are pursuing may be good, but the core of their heart is polluted due to bad company. Several bad thoughts emanate in their mind even at a young age.

People often think that it is a natural phenomenon due to young age. I do not at all subscribe to this view. It is not a natural phenomenon at all! It is most unnatural. Since you are partaking of bad food, you are having bad thoughts. Hence, first and foremost, give up bad food. People who are devoted to Swami, must join satsanga. But you are joining bad company and, as a result, are developing bad thoughts. Once bad thoughts enter your mind, none can drive them away. Hence, you have to cultivate good thoughts even before bad thoughts enter your mind.

Several parents are not concerned about the future of their children. Either they are too busy pursuing their vocations or they are helpless in supervising your behaviour. But, if you tread the right path, they will be most happy. On the other hand, if you are moving about in bad company, cultivating bad habits, resulting in bad behaviour, they will be very sad and will be unable to share their distress or anguish with anybody. Hence, it is your foremost duty to keep your parents happy.

If you want to keep your parents happy, you must tread the right path. So, tread the right path and keep your parents happy. Only then will you be able to cultivate good behaviour. There are three aspects in human life, which are interlinked: thoughts, behaviour, and the end result. As the thoughts, so will be the behaviour, and as the behaviour, so will be the result. Teachers expect good behaviour from their pupils. How is it possible, when the students move about in bad company, eat wrong kinds of food, and entertain bad thoughts? The end result is always bad in such a situation. While taking bitter food, how can you experience sweetness? In short, the rajasic and thamasic food that you consume is the root cause for the bad thoughts that are entering your mind.

Dear students!

All of you must tread the right path. Even if your parents for any reason offer you rajasic and thamasic food prepared in the home, you must explain and convince them of the ill-effects of such food, saying, “Mother! If you serve rajasic and thamasic food to me, I will only get bad thoughts. This is not conducive to good behaviour on my part.” You must also convince them of the need to prepare and serve sathwic food to all members of the family. Not only should you eat sathwic food, you should also read good books. Your entire life is dependent upon good food, good thoughts, and good company.

Dear students!

You should not read all sorts of trash like cheap novels, stories, etc. Such trash will generate bad thoughts in you and pollute you mind. When you go to a library, you should read the biographies of great and noble people, which will help to cultivate good qualities and good thoughts in you. One reason for the pollution of young minds and proliferation of bad thoughts in them is reading all sorts of cheap literature. In fact, it is only the mind that is responsible for good or bad thoughts. That is why it is said, Manaeva manushyanam karanam bandhamokshayo (mind is responsible for both bondage and liberation of man). Unfortunately, in these days it is only cheap books that have become popular and acquired great attraction. Good books have become a rare commodity.

A question may arise as to where one would get such good books. You go to good libraries of institutions committed to the moral and spiritual uplift of humanity. Frequently, we come across people traveling in trains and buses purchasing worthless books available in the railway platforms and bus stands and reading them with absorbing interest. They may say that they are reading them for whiling away the time. They do not realise how harmful those books are in generating bad thoughts and polluting their minds. Hence, you must always select books that contribute to your intellectual, moral, and spiritual development.

Embodiments of Love!

If you wish to cultivate good thoughts and good behaviour, you must read good books. Several students today consider it a fashion to read cheap literature that is available for a low price. With the result that cheap thoughts and cheap behaviour are generated in them. They look for cheap books and trash distributed free of cost. They woefully lack a sense of discrimination to judge whether such writing is conducive to their moral, spiritual, and character development. They will, however, realise the consequences of their action after their minds are totally polluted. Then it will be too late for them to retrace their steps. It is only through good books that good thoughts and good behaviour can be cultivated.

Dear students!

There are several other important aspects to be taught to you in these three days that will enable you to cultivate noble thoughts and tread the right path. I will teach several aspects in due course that will enable you to cultivate pure thoughts.