This post is an excerpt from the talk “The World Is Our Family” in Finding the Joy Within You: Personal Counsel for God-Centered Living by Sri Daya Mata, beloved third president and sanghamata (“mother of the society”) of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. She was speaking at the Gyanamata Ashram (nuns’ residence), Self-Realization Fellowship International Headquarters, during a gathering to celebrate America’s Bicentennial, July 1976, and we are happy to share during America’s 250th anniversary this special remembrance of her time with Paramahansa Yogananda and encouraging insights about that which can bring greater soul freedom to individuals and the world.
Tonight I am remembering the many Fourths of July we spent with Gurudeva [Paramahansa Yogananda]. Our Christmas and Easter observances were in part rather solemn occasions, but the Fourth of July was always a jubilant time. We didn’t have much to spend, but we always managed to get a few sparklers and firecrackers, and a little ice cream, and have a gathering on the lawn here at Mt. Washington.1 Later, when the Encinitas Hermitage2 came into being, Paramahansaji took us to Mission Beach nearby, where we could watch the fireworks display out over the ocean.
It has made me so happy tonight to see how you have all joined in the spirit of celebrating America’s two-hundredth birthday. I remember Guruji’s saying that he came to America not because he loved other nations less — his consciousness was universal — but because he found here more freedom from prejudice, more freedom of worship; and these provided the greatest possibilities for spreading the spirit and ideals that are the very foundation of Self-Realization teachings. Now, this is not to say that America is perfect. But here, perhaps more than in any other part of the globe, there is a greater opportunity to experience and express the four freedoms.3
To be truly patriotic, truly American, exemplifying the ideals on which this great nation was founded, we must learn to cultivate and express love and friendship for all. We begin by loving those whom God has sent to us as our family; and then expanding that love to include our neighbors, our country, and eventually all nations. Applying the Self-Realization Fellowship teachings in our life expands our consciousness, until ultimately we do come to feel and accept the whole world as our family. Then we are expressing the universal love of God.
What Is Freedom?
Today, more than ever, America and all other nations need to work at cultivating that universal love. The world is being torn apart by standards of behavior that do not lead to peace and real freedom. Freedom is not doing as you please, ignoring the rights of others. To be free requires the practice of self-discipline. True freedom, in the ultimate sense, is liberation from the compulsions of bad habits, prejudices, moods, self-interest, self-will, and so forth. When you can exercise free choice in all your actions, guided purely by wisdom, then you are free.
The first time I went to India, it was like stepping into an entirely different world. The spiritual atmosphere overwhelmed my soul with joy, but material conditions were far removed from what we have in this country. I remember being stunned to see so much suffering from poverty and the struggle merely to keep alive. My heart wept, and I vowed that when I returned to America I would stress more than ever the importance of sharing, and of finding freedom and happiness within. We do not need a lot outwardly in order to be content, but we do need soul-freedom. The inner freedom of spirit is not dependent on our environment; but we benefit from an environment that gives us an opportunity to think more deeply about God and to cultivate love for Him.
Master predicted that one day — after great suffering, struggle, and heartache — all nations of the world will unite. That unity will come when individuals within nations begin to find inner freedom. Through the teachings of this path of Self-Realization we have been blessed with the greatest opportunity to find spiritual liberation — freedom for our souls — and through our example, to encourage our family, our nation, and our world to seek their own freedom in God. It has to begin somewhere. Great teachers come and speak fervently about the importance of unity of humankind. Crowds cheer and wave flags and agree that universal brotherhood is necessary. The ideal lives in minds and hearts for a while, then dies away again. Why? Because each one is waiting for someone else to start practicing the requisite spiritual principles. But that practice must begin with himself.
Soul freedom is “where it’s at,” as they say nowadays! And that freedom comes from surrendering yourself to God’s will for you each day.
Footnotes:
- Site of, and by extension a frequently used name for, the Mother Center and International Headquarters of Self-Realization Fellowship on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles.
- Encinitas is a small city about a hundred miles south of Los Angeles, where Paramahansa Yogananda was given a large hermitage overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He spent a good deal of his time there from late 1936 through 1948.
- As outlined by Franklin D. Roosevelt: freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship God in one’s own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
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