The strength and happiness of a nation or community depends neither upon the material wealth nor environmental circumstances, but pre-eminently upon the texture and composition of its individual constituents. It can be likened to an edifice whose soundness depends on the quality and material of the bricks used in its construction. The mind-boggling scientific advances and the grandiose developmental plans of our times when applied in practical life only seem to mar our peace and happiness, and this has been the unrelenting experience of our materialistic civilization.
Our experts in economics, politics and natural resources have so far failed to establish a scheme of living to enable us enjoy real peace and joy in life. Our history too has been a tragic sequence of repeated bloody wars and revolutions fought in the name of peace. The only peace we have known is in the exhausting and demoralizing pause between two wars. All the past wars and revolutions failed to discover a perfect and peaceful system of government where people could live in contentment and peace.
At this juncture, we need to turn to philosophy and religion for our rescue. The masters point out that the external pattern of objects do not remain constant in any humanly created scheme. The pattern changes continually. The dreams and goals of the wars and revolutionaries therefore failed as their attention was directed towards the external world of objects. According to the masters the solution lies in the development of the inner personality of man.
Man experiences the world through the instrument of his mind and intellect. But when this instrument itself is defective and in disuse, how can a mere rearrangement and embellishment of the external environment provide any peace or joy in life? The goal of everlasting happiness can be reached only by revolutionizing the inner personality of man. The mind and intellect of individuals have to be regulated, disciplined and perfected, so that they may find for themselves an equipoise amidst the vicissitudes of life. Our religion has all it takes to correctly and certainly guide us towards this essential change and transformation if only we would care to sincerely turn to it.
Our experience of life involves three factors –the experiencer, the object experienced and a relationship between the two. While the secular scientists develop and beautify the outer field of material objects, the religious masters work in the field of the subject, the experiencer, and prescribe the means of perfecting his inner structure. It is essential that both the subject and object are prepared properly to eke out happy experiences in life. Again, while the material world of today has been well designed and made attractive, what we need even more is a planned rehabilitation of the individuals who constitute the society and the nation. This personality reconstruction is the cry of all religions today.
