Summer 1990

I am very pleased to be able to come here and to be among all of you. In my past tours, I have seen many of the families who are here; and now I am happy to see the new families joining the group.

As all of you know, this school started as a very small thing and it was founded by my great Satguru, my great Master Kirpal Singh Ji. He founded this school for the benefit of the children and for the benefit of the community over here. He had this wish that all the children who would come to this school, would get the correct and right education and that they would grow up as good citizens and help the community and the nation.

You know that if any work has been started by a father – after he leaves, the wise children carry on the work of their father because it becomes their responsibility. Only they can be called as the wise children who continue working according to what their father taught them.

Satguru Master Kirpal Singh Ji used to say that it is not the Masters Themselves Who make Themselves famous, it is Their disciples Who make Them famous. Because if the disciples will live and follow the teachings of the Masters, if they will make their own character good and if they will present a good example to other people in the world, then they will be glorifying the name of their Master.

Even on a worldly level the same thing applies. If your children are good and they have done good things in the world, they will be glorifying the name of their parents.

Now the school here has progressed very much and I am very grateful to all the dear ones who have donated and those who have worked very hard in making the school a success. Kent Bicknell has always been talking to me about the progress of the school whenever he comes to Rajasthan, where I live; he always talked about things at the school and I am grateful to all the dear ones who have helped him to make the school a success.

No wealth of this world – nothing of this world goes with us. When we leave this body, when we leave this world, not even the body in which we are sitting now and we claim to be our very own, goes with us. We have to leave everything here. But all the good deeds we have done – and if we have helped other people to achieve something good – only those things remain in this world and those things always shine and our name is also shining and we are always glorified in this world if we have done good things like that. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say, “When people leave this world, they leave behind their name. If they have done good things – whatever they have done for the other people, since many people get benefit from the deeds of those people – they are always remembered. And those people who have donated for the good cause, or those who have worked for the good cause, they always continue getting the spiritual benefit.”

Children are the wealth of the families. They are the wealth of the society and their local community and they are the wealth of the nation. When they grow up, from among them may come the ones who will be the best citizens of the country. And it is possible that some of them may rule over the country or take care of the affairs of the country. So if they have been brought up with the right education, if right from the beginning they have been given the right kind of education and if they grow up as very good citizens, then it will not only glorify the name of their families or community or society in which they have grown up, but it will also glorify the name of their country.

Saints always encourage us to glorify the name of our parents, to glorify the name of our families. They also inspire us to glorify the name of the society in which we are living and They always tell us to do things which will bring glory to the name of our country so that the people all over the world may know that such-and-such person is a citizen of that country.

We can do all these things only if our children will be given good education – only if they will be brought up in a good environment, only if they are taught the right discipline.

So once again I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to all the dear ones, those who have contributed to making the school a success. In the future also it becomes the responsibility, especially of those dear ones whose children study in this school, to help the organizers, to help the people here and to contribute and work together with the dear ones here. Because you know that so far the school has grown so much – it has been very successful – and in the future also it is going to be more successful and many more children will come here and they will benefit from it. So it is the responsibility, especially of those parents whose kids come to this school, to help the people running the school by any way they can.

Kabir Sahib, a Saint, says, “If you get a lot of water in your boat, and in the same way, if you get a lot of money in your home, what is the wise thing to do? You should try to throw out that water with both hands. Otherwise you will get drowned.” In the same way, if you have a lot of wealth, you should try to give it for the good cause.

Further He says, “You do not lose anything when you give for the good cause, just as the river does not go dry no matter how much water people take from it. If you don’t believe me,” He says, “You can try this for yourself.”

Rajasthan, the place where I live, is much different now than what it used to be thirty-five years ago. The dear ones who have been to Rajasthan recently have seen how there are now good roads over there, there are trees everywhere and there is a lot of water there. But about thirty-five years ago, in Rajasthan there was not so much water, we did not have any good roads and there was no greenery at all.

There was a great Saint, a holy man in Rajasthan, who was elected as a member of the Parliament from Rajasthan. When he went around, touring the state of Rajasthan, he was surprised to see how many people in the state of Rajasthan were illiterate. He resigned from being a member of Parliament. He came down to Rajasthan and encouraging, inspiring people to give donations, he collected a lot of money and he founded a school. Later on he also opened an agricultural college. He used to say, “If God has given you a lot of wealth and you are not donating for the education of the illiterate, of the people, then it is better for you to wear a garland of stones and drown yourself in the water.”

The schools and institutions which he founded became so popular and so good that many people took advantage of them and many of his students became members of Parliament or members of the local assembly; many of them became very good professionals and they are leading a very good life.

So, lovingly, all of you are requested that we should pay as much attention as possible towards the progress of this school, because it is our very own. It is like our own home, and we should always think about making it more successful, because we are the ones who are gaining from this school. We are the ones who are benefiting from the school, because it is our children who go to this school, and in the future also many more children will also come to this school.

When I came here on the first tour, at that time the school was very small and there were not so many big buildings of the school; but this time that I have come here, I am very happy to see the new school building, and to see all of you who have worked very hard and all those who have contributed in making that building. I was pleased to see that building and I am thankful to all those who have helped in making that building.

[Sant Ji asks Kent Bicknell, the principal, if he has anything he wishes to say. Kent thanks Sant Ji for coming here and visiting the school.]

I am also very thankful to all the dear ones, especially all the families who have come here, spending their precious time. I am very thankful to all of you who have come here.