‘Plain Living and High Thinking’ :

Our forefathers would be considerably amused at many of the maladies that afflict humanity today, e.g., inflation, black-marketing, bootlegging, gun-running, ethoe genus omne. These Frankenstein monsters, threatening to destroy us before long, are our creation as they are merely the inescapable effects of our lapse from a spiritual outlook upon life and the adoption of a purely materialistic philosophy of living. These and myriads of other similar problems have their origin in a love of luxurious living and are the products of a foolish mania on the part of every nation to raise its so-called standard of living over that of its neighbours.

The economic blockades, the armament races and the atom-bomb imbroglios are the resultants of human vanity, greed, jealousy, mutual suspicion and hatred; and as each nation wants to be on the safe side by multiplying its power of destruction, there is a regular scramble and competition for becoming the most ruthless and the most destructive power! ‘Is there no remedy for this’ has been on every one’s lips for over a generation now; but no one has the courage and the faith for taking the practical steps necessary for stopping the rot, irrespective of the cost or the consequences. Each nation wants the other nations, each man all other men, to take the initiative; and so the merry game goes on unabated. The vicious circle has to be broken by some one: and why not let it be done by ourselves rather than by others? The minimum essentials of the change that has to be brought about should be clearly visualised and consciously and conscientiously pursued by everyone according to his capacity.

The first step to be taken is to change the angle of vision of life. All materialistic ways of thinking and living should be abandoned. A simple, spiritual sense of the values of life should be carefully inculcated in all countries, in all societies. There should be an immediate return to the motto of ‘Plain Living and High Thinking,’ so successfully followed by our ancient forefathers, who understood well that the practice of the sine qua non for the thorough eradication of greed and fear, which lie at the root of all the troubles of the world.

As a supplement to this, the spirit of selfless service should be infused into every man from his childhood days. This is the point at which Religion meets Ethics and Sociology; for the first posits that the One Self alone pervades all Existence. Hence, every piece of service done to others amounts to a benefit conferred on ourselves. The more this sublime basis of human actions is recognised and adopted, the more rapid will be man’s evolution towards perfection and divinisation.

The emphasis in human relations should be shifted from rights to duties. Communalism, Racialism, Nationalism—all ‘isms’ are only the different hoods of the same hydra-headed monster of selfishness and insistence upon rights and disregard of duties, and should therefore give place to one all-embracing Universalism. National borders should gradually lose their artificial significance and importance; and one by one, all differences of religion and language, social and moral codes, cultural and political institutions—should vanish and be replaced by the greatest common measure of uniformity of outlook, interests and conduct.

Let other nations wait for this ‘consummation devoutly to be wished’. Why should we not have the proud distinction of being the first country courageously to declare her borders as Conterminous with the boundaries of the Universe itself? Let us begin with ourselves and get all dross be completely eliminated from our composition. Let us take down all narrow barriers and let our heart expand till it beats in sympathy with the whole world. Let us prove by our actions and their results that we are the inheritors of the ancient practical Wisdom of the Upanishads and let our Punya Bhoomi lead the way, as of old, towards a better, freer and fuller life bringing sweetness and Light to the whole world.

Swami Sivananda