How should we live in this world, and share love with all beings?

The lotus leaf is born under water and it floats on water, but it does not get wet. You too must be in the world likewise—in it, by it, for it, but not of it. The the special feature ofVidya (higher education) is to prepare you for this role. That is to say, with the heart immersed in the Divine and the hands busy in work, you must live thus on earth. Love should not degenerate into an article of commerce. Love fulfils itself in Love.

What is the significance of forbearance as a virtue?

The attitude of forbearance is to refuse to be affected or pained when inflicted with sorrow, loss, or ingratitude and wickedness of others. In fact, you should be happy and calm, because you should know that these are the results of your own actions now recoiling on you, and therefore you should view those who caused the misery as friends and well-wishers. You should not retaliate or wish them ill. You must bear all blows patiently and gladly. The natural reactions of people, whoever they may be, when someone injures them is to injure in return; when someone causes harm, to retaliate violently; and when someone insults them, to insult back in some way or the other. This is the characteristic of thepravritti marga (worldly path) — the path of objective involvement. If you seek nivritti marga (the inner path of sublimation and purification) you must avoid such reactions and exhibit forbe arance.

What is the best method to gain freedom from bondage? Swami

The sacred activities like rituals and sacrifices that are laid down in the Vedas (scriptures) cannot confer liberation (moksha) from bondage. They help only to cleanse the consciousness. It is said that they raise people to heaven, but heaven is also only a bond. It does not promise eternal freedom.  The freedom that makes one aware of the truth, of one’s own truth, can be gained only through listening to the Guru (sravana), ruminating over what has been listened to (manana), and meditating on its validity and significance (nidi-dhyasana). Only those who have detached their minds from desire can benefit from the Guru. Others cannot profit from the guidance.

What is the barometer to measure ourselves as educated people?

Do not think that the Vedas (scriptures) lay down a bundle of frightening rules, regulations and laws. Every one of them has been laid down by the Lord, as the lawgiver. All elements in the Cosmos, every particle everywhere, are acting every moment as ordained by Him. This is what the Vedas inform us. No worship can be higher and more beneficial than serving the Lord. One has to offer Love to Him, more Love than one bears to anything else in this world and the next. He must be loved as the One and Only. He has to be remembered adoringly with such Love. That is the fruit that real education must result in.

Why is it important to believe that we are one with God?

The timeless soul which is beyond delusion and darkness has to be cognised by every person through his/her own efforts. You have taken birth as inheritors of this estate of Eternal Bliss. You are the dearly loved children of the Lord. You are as pure and as sacred as air. Do not condemn yourselves as sinners. You are lion cubs, not sheep. You are wavelets of Immortality, not bodies compounded from matter. Material objects are there to serve you and do your bidding. You should not serve them and do their bidding.

What is the meaning of true devotion?

True devotion consists in offering all your thoughts and actions to God and yearning for His grace. Devotion confined to a brief spell in the pooja room (shrine) or temple is not true devotion. During that time, devotion seems to swell within you and you feel at peace but, once outside, the peace is lost and anger takes its place. This cannot be called devotion. Bhakti (Devotion) has been described as a state of non-separation from God. Regardless of time, space or circumstance, one should feel closeness to God – that is Bhakti. True devotion transcends the limitations imposed by one’s daily routines and the obligations of life.