Some of us born in India may be naturally proud of the Indian culture. But what is the essence of this culture that makes it special? Bhagawan explains today so that we not only admire this ancient culture but also adopt it as a lifestyle.
The special feature of Indian culture is that here the dress and demeanour, the language and literature, the manner and mode of living, the ideals and institutions are all attuned to the spiritual progress of man, emphasising as they do the superiority of the spirit over the body, the subtle over the gross. Everything is subordinated to that supreme task. The body should be fed and kept free from disease. Why? So that it may be fit for spiritual discipline. Spiritual discipline for what? For the realisation of the truth about oneself. The subtle is the basis for the gross; the Divine is the basis for the human. Indian culture turns your eye to the basis, not to what is built upon it. This outlook was, for long, the natural outlook for every Indian; it was indeed automatic. It was imbibed at the mother’s lap, from the father in the field, the teacher at school, from neighbour, friends and relatives, from the old and the young, and from whatever was done or written or spoken by those around.
– Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1964.
