Deepest of Yearnings

GV 12 180915 Deepest of Yearnings

“What do you feel is the deepest yearning of every human heart, my son?” 

The Baba began the day’s discussion with this question after a short prayer. 

“I feel it is the yearning for love, Guruji. All of us want love. We want to be loved, and we also want to love others.” Atma Prakash replied.

“Yes, you are quite right, my son. The deepest yearning of every human heart is for love. It begins with the mother’s love that nurtures us from birth. Without love we cannot really grow and blossom to our full potentials. Without love we also cannot be really happy and healthy. Love sustains us. Love nourishes us. It is the source of life and existence. That is why religions and spiritual masters refer to God as ‘Love Infinite’…. The greatest hunger in the world today is not for food, but for love..

“Then comes the yearning for acceptance. The yearning for dignity and the yearning for equality follow… These are the four deepest yearnings of the human heart as I have discovered over the years. Modern psychology affirms this discovery of mine.” The Baba looked at Atma Prakash.

“Can you please explain these yearnings of the human heart for acceptance, dignity and equality a bit more, Guruji?” Atma Prakash asked the Baba.

The Baba responded: “All of us want to be accepted as we are. We have our positive and negative dimensions. We have our strengths and weaknesses. We may not be good looking and smart. We also have our own potentialities and limitations. But each one of us is unique... ‘God never repeats… His every creation is unique….

“Every human person is unique with a unique task to perform in this world which no one else can perform. No one else is created like the other… God never repeats…

“When we really love a person we will have to accept that person in totality, not in parts. All of us need this kind of total acceptance. Without this total acceptance, we cannot be really happy…

“Acceptance also implies accepting ourselves and our limitations and potentialities. Many of us are not able to accept ourselves. We do not understand our true self…. We are often unhappy with the way we are….

“There is an old prayer: ‘Lord, give me the courage to change things that I can, the humility to accept the things that I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference….

“All of us also desire to be respected. We need others to respect the dignity of our being..

“We want others to respect us for what we are, not for what we have. But today we respect others for what they have; for their wealth, power, looks or influence. When these things are not there, we tend to lose our respect for them…..

“We need to respect people for their integrity, character and values. Our dignity as human persons is based not on material things but on our very being and our value system. We are created in the image and likeness of God. God is the Supreme Spirit and we are spiritual beings in physical bodies. All of us are children of God. This truth is the basis of our dignity; not the wealth, power or influence that we have…..

“Then comes the yearning for equality. Equality does not imply here the equality of material things; or the equality of height, weight and measurements. It implies equality as children of God and as citizens of India, and as members of the human family….

“Indian society is highly caste-ridden. Members of a ‘low caste’ are never treated as equals by the members of a ‘high caste’. There still exists ‘untouchability’ in our country. 

“We still have ‘reservations’ based on caste and class dinstinctions. Caste and class discriminations, and the ‘vote bank’ politics in India have become curses befallen our country…..

“Guru Nanak, the saintly founder of Sikhism, started the ‘Guru Ka Langar’ as a community meal for all to share as equals. You must study the history of Sikhism and understand how through this simple system of community meal the great guru was able to demolish the discriminative caste system… He was able to uphold the equality of all human beings as children of God and as brothers and sisters to one another through the institution of ‘Guru Ka Langar’…. 

“If you go to the Golden Temple at Amristar in Punjab today you can see this miracle at work at its best. Presidents and plumbers, peons and prime ministers, men and women, old and young,…..all sit together and eat the same meal…This is equality in practice….

“These four yearnings; the yearning for love, the yearning for acceptance, the yearning for dignity and the yearning for equality; are common to all human beings: old or young, man or woman, Indian or Indonesian, African or American, Hindu or Muslim, black or white, poor or rich……all alike. 

“We cannot be happy in our lives if these deepest common yearnings of our hearts are not satisfied… Do these ideas make sense to you, my son?’, the Baba asked Atma Prakash.

“Yes, of course, guruji. What you are saying seems to me as absolute truth.’ Atma Prakash replied.

Excerpts from ‘Integral Revolution’: Swami Sachidananda Bharati