Books are available in plenty and at very cheap prices. Vedas,
Sastras and Puranas can be got and read by every one. There is
also no dearth of Gurus. Vidya-peeths abound and are ostensibly
granting the boon of knowledge. Facilities for training the mind
are plenty and within reach. But yet, from nowhere is heard the
note of content at having partaken of the nectar of Jnana.
When I see the heaps of books that lie around everywhere, I
feel that the wisdom inside the book cannot succeed in penetrating
the heavy binding and emerge into the light. God is hidden by the
mountain ranges of lust, anger, envy and selfishness. So too, the
Sun of Wisdom is hidden by these huge heaps of books. Though these
books have spread to all corners of the earth, we cannot say that
culture has increased or that wisdom has increased; man is still
not far from the ape. An attractive binding and title, a beautiful
picture, these are what the reader seeks, viz., transitory
pleasure and momentary contentment. Only those who, by means of
discrimination, select the books they read and practise what they
read can realize the Truth and enjoy everlasting Bliss. Only these
live worth while lives. So, those who seek the highest path and
who revel in thoughts of God should strive to read only the life
histories of saints and sages and books which help the
contemplation of the Divine. Aimless reading of books all and
sundry and whatever comes to hand will make confusion only worse
confounded. It gives no profit, confers no peace.
More than all, cultivate one-pointed steadfastness, ekagrata,
in whatever you do. Samadrishti is Subha-drishti.
The Lion, though it is the King of the forest, while walking
through the wood, turns back for every few steps, for, it is
afraid of being pursued. Fear in the mind makes the vision falter.
Violence within the heart distorts the vision and distracts the
sight.
Man must have Samadrishti, equal sight. All creation must
appear to his eyes as equally auspicious. He must look upon all
being with as much love and faith as he has in himself. For there
is nothing evil in creation, no, not even an iota. Evil appears as
such only through faulty vision. Creation gets coloured by the
nature of the glasses we wear. By itself it is eternally pure and
holy.