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Swamiji's closing speach at the Youth Conference 2006

The duty of juniors is to receive wisdom and become the light for the world. The time of seniors is passing, and their wisdom must be left for the future. The modern world faces deep suffering: refugees are abused, families are destroyed, and violence affects all life. Humans possess intellect and the power to act, which carries the duty of non-violence. True peace begins within one's own heart; it is time to act from that place. The young are attentive and think of the future; they must not remain small. Great beings all began small; you must continue your work.

"The flame spoke to the sun: 'Don’t worry. I will try. I can’t be the sun, but I will give light to the world.'"

"Charity begins at home. Peace begins from your own heart. So it is time to act, not just to sit and observe."

Filming location: Zlin, Czech Republic

Oṁ sukhadāṁ keṁ jñānatīṁ dvandātītaṁ aggaṇa sadraśaṁ tasmāsyādi lakṣyaṁ ekaṁ nityaṁ vimalāchalaṁ sarvadhiḥsākṣibhūtaṁ. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters, dear juniors. It was a beautiful day. It was a great joy and a privilege for us to hear the requirements, the thoughts, and the knowledge of the juniors. We can also learn a great deal from them. Yes, indeed, they are the culture of tomorrow. Tomorrow will be as they are. There is a small story or a poem written by Ravīndranāth Ṭhākur, Rabīndranāth Ṭhāgur. He was a Nobel Prize winner in poetry. One evening at sunset, he was walking through a garden and saw a beautiful horizon, a beautiful orange color. Being a poet, Ravīndranāth Ṭhākur created a story from this beautiful evening dusk. He thought, "What is the sun thinking now while going down?" He imagined the setting sun was sad, thinking its time was gone and this part of the world would be swallowed by darkness. The sun looked left and right, wondering if anyone could take its place and what would become of the world in its absence. In that minute, Ravīndranāth Ṭhākur heard a beautiful sound—the sound of bells from a temple where evening prayers were being prepared. A beautiful oil lamp was lit. Tagore turned towards the temple and saw a little, tiny flame. Ṭhākur writes that when this flame saw the sun going down, it too felt a little sad. The flame spoke to the sun: "Don’t worry. I will try. I can’t be the sun, but I will give light to the world." And so it is with seniors and juniors. The time of the seniors is more or less passing away. We know that the wisdom we have, we do not wish to take with us; we would like to leave it here. Now it is the duty of the juniors to take the future of the world into their hands. In this way, we had a beautiful day. We heard beautiful thoughts. Some things were very pleasant, some were unpleasant. The truth is sometimes not easy to digest. The story about refugees in different countries, the young refugees, and how hard a time they have, how they are abused by native people, was touching. It also touched the heart regarding elderly people. In India, we say everyone prays to the rising sun. Everyone loves children, but what about the setting sun? Elderly people have old bodies, but their requirements and feelings are never old. Sooner or later, we will be there too. Who will take care of us? We must bring this to the consciousness of our children. One of the aims or principles of having children, of having a happy family, is that both the young and the elderly will be taken care of. The modern education system is pulling humans apart from humanity. Family life is being destroyed. Many couples are unhappy. Millions of children are without parents. Millions of young mothers are crying because their children and husbands have become victims of war. This picture we see in the world is unbearable. And it is not only humans; you just saw the video of how animals are suffering. The difference between humans and animals is this: humans have the power of intellect and action. Unfortunately, innocent animals do not have this. Ahiṃsā paramodharma—the highest principle is non-violence. Thou shalt not kill. Killing animals is also like killing a human. If you cannot give life to someone, you have no right to take the lives of others. Think of your future days. They are not far from your horizon. You will need your children. Therefore, educate them to love their parents, family, neighbors, and fellow humans, and to protect animals. This morning, two young men were reading the newspaper, thinking and reading about the wars. One man, our junior, said, "Peter, you know, there are so many thousands and millions of soldiers killed in the war." Another said this should be stopped. The answer was, "But how to stop? We can do nothing." Others said, "Yes, we can." Yes, you can. Charity begins at home. Peace begins from your own heart. So it is time to act, not just to sit and observe what is happening. That is the message of this conference. I learned a lot from the children today—how attentive they are, how concentrated they are, and how they are already thinking about the future world. These are children from yoga and daily life, and they are aware of everything. I am very happy about them, and I wish them a very happy future and a very happy family life. I wish they will not be only a tiny flame, but a very big light. All great personalities, like Mahatma Gandhi and others, were once small, like we were little babies. One day you will be the greatest one also. Do not give up your work. Get up and walk. I thank the organizers; they did immense work, and indeed it was beautiful. So many participants have been here the whole day, sitting on these hard chairs. I must also congratulate you. How good you are to have sat here for nearly twelve hours. That is great. Śānti, Śānti,... Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Je.

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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