The way to a bright future

Life becomes complete when humankind and Nature move in harmony, hand in hand. When melody and rhythm complement each other, music becomes beautiful and pleasing to the ear. Likewise, when people live in accordance with the laws of nature, the song of life becomes sweet.

There is an order to everything in the cosmos. There is a rhythm to everything—the wind, the rain, the waves, our flow of breath and heartbeat. Similarly, there is a rhythm in life. Our thoughts and actions create the rhythm and melody of our lives. When the rhythm of our thoughts is lost, it reflects in our actions. This will, in turn, throw off the very rhythm of life.

The rhythm of Nature depends upon humanity. It’s necessary to maintain the rhythm of the mind and body for the sake of our health and life span, for the sake of humankind and Nature. But this rhythm is being lost. This is reflected in Nature and in society by natural disasters like the tsunami.

Death is part of life. All of us must face it today or tomorrow. The important thing is not how we die, but how we live. God has given us the freedom to laugh or cry. Even if we are completely surrounded by darkness, we must keep the light within aflame.

Even if we cannot completely remove the suffering of others, sorrows lessen when they are shared with others. But when we console others using our smile and kind words, our capacity for kindness doesn’t lessen, but increases. Every poor person has a right to the unlimited wealth of kindness. Just as water from a perennial spring never dries up no matter how much we draw from it, the more kindness we give, the more it will increase.

Just because our loved ones have died doesn’t mean that we should grieve forever. Our scriptures refer to death as a step into a new life. It’s like the period that comes at the end of the sentence. It’s not only departed soul’s near and dear ones who have prayed for their well-being; many, many children from all over the whole world have prayed too. Those prayers will never be wasted. Children, you should gain strength thinking of that. Pray to God for these departed souls to attain a superior life.

Natural disasters are not under our control. No matter how technologically advanced we become, we will never be able to prevent such disasters from taking place. But seeing how you children are rising up to the occasion and facing these obstacles with courage and unity, Amma is filled with tremendous hope. If we are able to retain this mental strength and unity, we are paving the way to a bright future. It is not enough if you children have good houses; you should also have a vision of life built upon a strong spiritual foundation.

The writer is a world-renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian