Wisdom, justice and moderation⁸

Dear seekers, dear friends, I wish to give a talk on "Wisdom, justice and moderation", which is the motto of Georgia. "Wisdom, justice and moderation" is a most significant motto. If we can apply these ideals in our daily life, then we can derive much Peace, Light and Joy from our earthly existence.

Wisdom. Wisdom is our liberal self-giving and not our selfish self-seeking. Wisdom is the beauty of our inner flame. Our inner flame is our upward aspiration-flight. Our aspiration-flight is our immortal Reality's height. The man of wisdom serves God in man. The man of wisdom loves man in God. By serving God in man, the man of wisdom gets boundless Peace, Light and Bliss. By loving man in God, the man of wisdom expands his vision. He feels himself an extension of the ever-increasing vision, inner and outer. Wisdom is at once experience and realisation. Experience tells the seeker what he can eventually become: a perfect instrument of God. Realisation tells the seeker what he eternally is: an eternal player, divine and supreme.

Justice: justice human and justice divine. “As you sow, so you reap” — this is human justice. “Tit for tat.” “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But Divine Justice is this: give what you have. You have to become what God is. Give your treasured possession, ignorance, to God. God will give you, in return, His very existence, which is Light flooded with Delight. In our human world, justice is more painful than heartful. In the divine world, justice is meaningful and fruitful. In the vital of night, justice threatens and frightens us. In the heart of Light, justice inspires and perfects us. In the human world, justice forces and punishes us. In the divine world, justice awakens us, illumines us and liberates us from the meshes of ignorance.

The great philosopher, Aristotle, once remarked, "Justice is what every man considers his very own". Now, in the spiritual life, only God is our very own. But this God of ours also belongs to every other soul as well. This God can be claimed by each and every soul as its very own. In order to make others feel that God is equally theirs, we have to become one, inseparably one, with them. And in order to become inseparably one with them, we have to become a Concern-sky and a Love-sea. It is our Concern-sky and Love-sea that can make others feel that they belong to us and we belong to them.

On the strength of our oneness, we can make others see what they want and what they really need. What they want is desire; what they really need is aspiration. We have to tell them that if we give them what they want — the fulfilment of desire — then this is bound to be followed by frustration; whereas if we offer them what they need — aspiration — then this aspiration will be the harbinger of realisation. And realisation is an ever-lasting, ever-growing, ever-fulfilling achievement in man's aspiring consciousness.

Moderation. Moderation means balance. A moderate life is a balanced life. The Buddha taught the path of moderation, the middle path. He warned us not to go to extremes, for he himself had gone to the extremes and found that that was not the answer. A real seeker shuns all extremes. An austere, severe life is not meant for him; nor is a life of constant enjoyment and pleasure meant for him. We have to adopt the middle path. We have to be normal and natural. And in our normal and natural life, we have to invoke the supernatural life, the life of Divinity, Infinity and Immortality.

A real seeker accepts the outer world. In his acceptance he pays considerable attention to the outer world. He accepts the inner world. There, too, he pays considerable attention. In his life of acceptance, he accepts the reality as such and wants to transform it with his inner cry, with his love of God, Light, Truth. In his rejection of darkness, he rejects the things that are unhealthy, the things that destroy his inner potentiality. But again, there are many undivine things in a person that can be transformed into divine realities. So he accepts these things and tries to transform them.

Life is a challenge for us. From a human point of view our earthly experience is like being in a battlefield. But if we go deep within, we come to realise that every day is an opportunity, every hour is an opportunity, every moment is an opportunity. If we can utilise these golden opportunities, then the imperfection that looms large in our life of today can easily be transformed into perfection in our life of tomorrow.

In our spiritual life there is a divine ladder that reaches to the highest pinnacle of Truth, Light and Bliss. This ladder has three rungs. The first rung is moderation, the second rung is justice and the third is wisdom. When we step on the first rung, we read the message: "Know Good." When we step on the second rung we read the message: "Do Good." And when we step on the third, we read the message: "Be Good." The moderation-rung teaches us how to know good in everything in God's entire creation. The justice-rung teaches us how to do good in all our multifarious activities. The wisdom-rung teaches us how to become good and how to grow into the very image of God.

When we are wanting in wisdom, it is a loss. When we are wanting in justice, it is a double loss. And finally, when we are wanting in moderation, it is a triple loss. But if we discover faith, inner faith, then it is a veritable gain. And along with it, if we can discover our aspiration, then it is a double gain. Finally if we can discover our divine surrender, our constant and unconditional surrender to the Light to the inner Source, to the real Source, then it is a triple gain. So, if we can have faith, aspiration and surrender, then the destined Goal can never remain a far cry.

A seeker is a man of wisdom. He wants to see the root of the Reality-tree. Then he wants to feel the necessity of becoming the seed of the Reality-tree. Finally, he wants to actually become the seed of the Reality-tree. When he becomes the seed of the Reality-tree, he sees that there is only one thing that was, is and forever shall be, and that is Love: the Love that created, the Love that nourishes, the Love that sustains God's universe.

If we practise what we preach, then wisdom becomes our profession. What we practise and what we preach should be the same: love. We tell the world to love, but we may not actually offer love to the world. But if we offer love and become love, then we can most assuredly expect to see love in the world at large. It is God's Love-Power that compels us to think of Him, to pray to Him, to meditate on Him and to claim Him as our very own. As God claims us as His very own on the strength of His own Love-Power, so also He tells us and inspires us and begs us to claim Him as our very own on the strength of our love for Him.

When we come face to face with God, He asks us to offer Him what we have. If we can offer Him our real treasure, a heart of love, He immediately accepts it and says, "You have passed your examination." But if we offer God all our world-possessions — physical, vital, mental possessions — but do not bring Him love, then He will not be satisfied. God will say, "No, bring Me your heart of love; that is your true treasure. And once I have your true treasure, then I will give you My Treasure, which is Light and Delight in Infinite measure."