Heaven upon Earth
By Swami Ramdas
27 July 2018
There is one way to achieve world peace. This is by everyone getting awakened to the inner Divine consciousness. The love between one soul and another should be based upon the realisation of this indwelling Reality. It is then alone that the spirit of universal brotherhood can prevail among the different peoples and nations of the world. No other efforts, however great and noble, can create an atmosphere of harmony and goodwill, can mend world affairs and prevent strife, dissensions and war. When the Divine spark hidden in the hearts of all beings blazes up and produces an all-round illumination, then alone will all the invidious distinctions dissolve. Man will live with man in fraternal love and affection. The present highly disturbed state of things in the world is there because God has been ruled out and mankind is in the clutches of the lower forces of its nature.
People talk of world peace and harmony. They discuss about various plans, schemes and programmes for ushering in a better and happier world, all founded on adjustments on the material plane. Mere intellect, however developed or cultured, cannot determine the ways and means for attaining this supreme aim. It is only the omnipotent power of God residing in everyone of us that can do what is needed. So it is the bounden duty of every human being, at the present critical stage in the world’s history, to invoke the all-conquering, Divine power to come to the rescue.
Prayer has been preached as a great dynamic force for good by all the saints and sages of the world, both modern and ancient. It is through prayer that the heart is tuned with God and all its impurities are washed away. God-thought or God-remembrance is the sure way to free the mind from its greeds and lusts and passions. So long as man is in the grip of his lower, violent and selfish nature, he will make this fair earth an arena for acts of wanton tyranny and ruthless destruction.
When the heart becomes pure and the mind shines with Divine light, then opens in us a spring of universal love, in which all sense of difference, separation and diversity disappears and we are gifted with the vision of looking upon human beings as members of one united world family. Thereafter, we utilise every ounce of our physical, mental and spiritual power for both the material and spiritual welfare of humanity as a whole.
Self-centredness, that is, too much concentration upon one’s own selfish aims and objects, is responsible for the chaotic condition that now prevails in the affairs of the world. When our hearts and minds, through constant prayer and remembrance of the Divine, are purged of these unnatural and suicidal tendencies, true happiness and peace, after which every man and woman on this earth is hankering and for which they are all striving day and night, will be realised by us.
Now, we know the remedy for removing the present discontent, agitation and disorder. Let everyone of us devote more and more time to the contemplation and remembrance of God – for which the easiest method is to mentally repeat, or with the tongue chant, God’s glorious name – and truly establish the much talked of and universally longed for Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
(Extracted from the section titled ‘World Unity and Peace’ from Swami Ramdas’ The Divine Life [vol. 2])
Swami Ramdas (1884–1963), lovingly called ‘Papa’, was a Spiritual Master and founder of Anandashram, in Kerala, India. He was leading an ordinary life till God’s grace descended on him in or about the year 1920. In a short while, he could behold God everywhere, both within and without. Having thus attained spiritual liberation and God-vision, he started on his mission to awaken mankind to the awareness of God.
Swami Ramdas wrote many books in English and in 1933 started a monthly called The Vision to carry his message of Universal Love and Service based on cosmic vision. The magazine continues to be published today.
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/swami-ramdas/heaven-upon-earth/d/115955