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Family relations

The world's critical situation stems from a foundational error in education, requiring a return to family-based ethical instruction. A faulty foundation, like a damp building, creates societal ills because people act without reflection, not knowing their actions' true impact. True education begins at home, instilling responsibility toward family and society. Life is precious, and humans are born as protectors. This duty includes repaying five spiritual debts, starting with the debt to one's mother, repaid through lifelong support in all forms. Acknowledging these obligations fosters love and harmony, costing nothing but granting everything. The capacity to care for others makes life beautiful.

"Humans are born as protectors, not destroyers."

"To say 'thank you' or 'excuse me' costs you nothing. But you gain love, happiness, harmony, understanding, and forgiveness."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

I would like to offer some instruction today on a matter of great importance in life. We have spoken of this before, but it bears repeating. We are all aware that the world is passing through a critical situation. A question mark hangs over the future: where is humanity headed? If education continues on its present course, it will be a grave mistake and a source of future problems. We must return to family relations. We must build a healthy family system and provide a good education to our children. Children must know their responsibility. To instill responsibility in children, we must ourselves have responsibility—toward them and toward others. This must be grounded in ethical and moral principles. Teaching must always begin at home, from the father and mother. What is happening in the world today is not admirable: terrorism, drugs, broken families, criminality, and many other ills. Why does this happen? What do those who commit such acts think while doing them? This is crucial. If they would think and truly know what they are doing, they would not do it. But they are unable to think, and they do not know what they are really doing. This capacity for reflection and this foundational education have been missing from the beginning. The basic principle is absent. The foundation is wrong. Consider an old building with a problem of humidity. It may be a beautiful, big, and strong structure, but the ground floors are very damp. This is because the foundation is faulty. Therefore, we must return to the education of the ṛṣis—the gurukul education, the Vedic education. Within this, one point is vital to understand: whatever you do reflects onto others. Do you care for your mother? Do you care for your father? Do you care for your parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, teachers, country, society, the world you live in, your master, and yourself? If you care for them, then living in this world is most beautiful. We should know that the world needs you more than you need the world. That is the first principle. Therefore, life is very precious. This life should be protected, and in doing so, we protect the lives of others. Humans are born as protectors, not destroyers. Protection means not only physical safeguarding but all kinds of protection. It is said that every individual, every human, has five kinds of debt to repay. This debt is not monetary or material; it is of a different nature. Sometimes, someone is waiting for you to say thank you. A wife may be deeply hurt by her husband. After 45 years of marriage, she tells him, "I am still waiting. You never said 'thank you,' or you never apologized." You must repay this. So you say, "Oh, I am sorry, I forgot, and I thank you." That person is released psychologically; a lifelong depression of 45 years is lifted by a single sentence: "Thank you, excuse me." To say "thank you" or "excuse me" costs you nothing. But you gain love, happiness, harmony, understanding, and forgiveness. You only gain. Likewise, there are five kinds of what is called ṛṇa—a debt obligation. The first is Mātṛ ṛṇa, the debt toward your mother. This we must repay our entire life, not with money, but in different ways: through physical, mental, social, and emotional help—assistance in every aspect. Remember, in one life you get only one mother and only one father. You may have stepmothers or adopted mothers, but the principle remains.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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