‘Turn back to God’

Sunanda Mehta:When 2012 started, you had come out with a book that was titled "All will be well in 2012". We would like to know from you how significant has this year been? Has it made any differences? Has it changed the world and the way people are living?

It is true we have had what is called many acts of God — the tsunamis and earthquakes and the storms. But all that I think is a result of us not behaving properly with Mother Nature. We don't have that respect for her which our ancestors had. They used to regard the Earth as their mother. There are so many portions in our scriptures addressed to Mother Earth. Earth was regarded as a mother, but now we regard the Earth as a source. Our ancestors had respect for every element of nature — they used to worship the trees, the oceans. Truly, life is one, the one life sleeps in the stone, that one life stirs in the plants and the vegetables, that one life dreams in the birds and the animals, that one life is awake in man. That one life is Him (the almighty). Therefore, we must have respect for every element of nature.

Sunanda: But do you think that is happening?

We are moving more and more away from nature. We depend more on our mind than on our hearts. Our education trains the minds, it does nothing to the heart. Remember, it is the emotions that are the master, not the master, not the brain. The brain is only the slave. What can the slave do when the master is rebellious. What we should do is really train the emotions of the children. At school and at home, these are the two centres where character can be built or destroyed. But the difficulty is that at both these places, the children do not receive the right kind of training. At school, they don't pay attention to the development of the heart, and at home the children have their eyes glued to the TV screen. When I was in America last year, I was told that some children tried to use guns on their grandmothers.

... contd.

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