This is a material world we live in, but we must never lose sight of the fact that we are essentially spiritual beings; our real Self is the immortal atman, which is above and beyond all material desires!
These are the options before each one of us—to aspire for spiritual wealth or to chase after the material world. You have two options: be of the world, be worldly; or be of the Spirit, and turn your back upon worldly desires.
The choice is yours, either to enjoy the luxuries of the world or to make friends with the One who ever abides, who faileth not. You can go out into the world and struggle hard for name, fame, position, power, wealth, and status. Or you can detach from the world and invite the Almighty to fill your heart with Divine love.
Many young men and women ask me, “When we live in the world, how can we ignore it? Is it possible for us to turn our back upon life?” Yes. We live in the world, and we should have a zest for living. Life is God’s greatest gift to us, and we should not be dead to this great gift. Treasure your life! Cherish this beautiful world and all of God’s creation! Therefore, love everyone. Love everything around you.
Give the love of your beautiful heart to one and all. But do not allow yourself to be mired in materialism! Do not be excessively attached to the world. Love–Yes; attachment–No! Love without attachment; let this be the guiding star of your life. If you are attached to worldly things, your very attachment will sooner or later drag you into the dark pool of turbulence and passion.
You have to choose between the two paths—the easy, tempting, alluring, worldly path, which may give you power and wealth but which will lead you to unhappiness and discontent, or the difficult, thorny and painful spiritual path, the path of yearning and intense aspiration, which will lead you to Ultimate Bliss! For as sure as the sun rises in the East, it will lead you to the Realm of Light!
Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.
