The New Year, 1975¹⁰

Today we are holding a special meeting to commemorate the arrival of the new year. Each new year is an important chapter in our book of life. We know that if a book has seven chapters, all seven chapters will not be of the same importance. Similarly, although every year has great importance, one year may be more important than another year.

The New Year’s Message

The year 1975 will be the year of the seeker’s outer success and inner progress. With his outer success, he will love and serve the Supreme Pilot. With his inner progress, he will manifest and fulfil the Supreme Pilot.

This year is a most significant year, for it will affect both the inner life and the outer life at the same time. There have been years when we have noticed outer success without inner progress. Again, there have been quite a few years when we have experienced inner progress but no outer success. The success we are referring to is not the success of an unaspiring human being, not the success of an earthbound man who wants to achieve success by hook or by crook. Our success is not of that type. Ours is the outer success that is the manifestation of our inner progress.

Inner progress and outer success we shall observe simultaneously this year in our life of aspiration and dedication. Aspiration symbolises our inner progress and dedication symbolises our outer success. We need inner progress for the full realisation of the aspiring immortality within us. We need outer success for the full manifestation of the Divinity within us.

When we think of our outer success, we have to know that success means offering to the Lord Supreme what we have: love, concern and the feeling of universal oneness. When we think of our inner progress, we have to realise that inner progress means our constant, conscious, glowing and undying gratitude to the Absolute Supreme.

By offering to the Transcendental Supreme what we have, we shall achieve divine outer success. By offering to the Transcendental Supreme what we eternally are, we shall achieve ever-increasing, ever-transcending inner progress.

Here we are all sincere seekers. We are sincere according to our capacity and receptivity, but undoubtedly we are sincere. A sincere seeker makes an inner commitment to his inner Pilot. His commitment is that he shall not be satisfied unless and until he has grown into the very image of the Supreme.

We travel along the road of sincerity and humility in order to run fastest towards our goal. When we run fastest, at that time our very existence shall be an offering of unconditional surrender and all-surrendering gratitude to our inner Pilot, the Supreme.

Most of the seekers here belong to the United Nations Meditation Group. Each member must feel that it is a great honour to be part and parcel of this Meditation Group, for it is through the Meditation Group that we enter into the heart and soul of the United Nations. Inside the heart and soul of the United Nations we feel the real hunger and real thirst of bleeding, crying, desiring and aspiring humanity. Since we are all members of the Meditation Group, it is our bounden duty to be of totally dedicated, devoted inner service to the loftiest ideals of the United Nations. Each member of this Meditation Group is trying to be a real instrument of Truth, Light, Love and Peace. Each member of the United Nations Meditation Group is aspiring to serve humanity’s divine cause and longing for the fulfilment of humanity’s divine cause.

The League of Nations was a tiny plant, but now it has grown into a huge tree, the United Nations. The time will come when the whole world will take rest at the foot of this tree — this tree of patience, this tree of compassion, this tree of love, this tree of universal oneness. And one day we shall have to climb up the tree, pluck its most energising fruits and offer them to hungry humanity.

To each member of the United Nations Meditation Group, I offer my blessingful gratitude and pride. Especially to Sumedha do I offer my most sincere blessingful gratitude for her constant loving service to the supreme cause that we have undertaken here. Now I wish to invite the members of the Meditation Group to come up and meditate for a few minutes.

Now I wish to invite the members of the Meditation Group to come up and meditate for a few minutes.