We are responsible for what we are; and whatever we
wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now
has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever
we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to
know how to act.
We get only that for which we are fitted. Let us
give up our pride and understand this, that never is misery undeserved; there
never has been an evil for which I did not pave the way with my own hands. We
ought to know that. Analyse yourselves and you will find that every blow you
have readied, came to you because you prepared yourselves for it. You did half,
and the external world did the other half; that is how the blow came. That will
sober us down. At the same time, from this very analysis will come a note of
hope, and the note of hope is: “I have no control of the external world, but
that which is in me and nearer unto me, my own world, is in my control. If the
two together are required to make a failure, if the two together are necessary
to give me a blow, I will not contribute the one which is in my keeping; and
how then can the blow come? If I get real control of myself, the blow will
never come.”
Nothing makes us work so
well at our best and highest as when all responsibility is thrown upon
ourselves. I challenge everyone of you. How will you behave if I put a little
baby in you hands? Your whole life will be changed for the moment; whatever you
may be, you must become selfless for the time being. You will give up all your
criminal ideas as soon as responsibility is thrown upon you-your whole character
will change. So if the whole responsibility is thrown upon our own shoulders,
we shall be at our highest and best; when we have nobody to grope towards, no
devil to lay our blame upon, no Personal God to carry our burdens, when we are
alone responsible, then we shall rise to our highest and best. I am responsible
for my fate, I am the bringer of good unto myself, I am the bringer of evil.
This life is a hard fact;
work your way through it boldly, though it may be adamantine; no matter, the
soul is stronger. It lays no responsibility on little gods; for you are the
makers or your own fortunes. You make yourselves suffer, you make good and
evil, and it is you who put your hands before your eyes and say it is dark.
Take your hands away and see the light; you are effulgent, you are perfect
already, from the very beginning.
This is the only solution
of the problem. Those that blame other-and, alas! The number of them is
increasing every day-are generally miserable with helpless brains; they have
brought themselves to that pass through their own mistakes and blame others,
but this does not alter their position. It does not serve them in any way. This
attempt to throw the blame upon others only weakens them the more. Therefore,
blame none for your own faults, stand upon your own feet, and take the whole
responsibility upon yourselves. Say, “This misery that I am suffering is of my
own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me
alone.” That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by some one
else I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, stand up, be bold, be strong.
Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the
creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within
yourselves. Therefore, make your own future. “Let the dead post bury its dead.”
The infinite future is before you, and you must always remember that each word,
thought, and deed, lays up a store for you and that as the bad thoughts and bad
works are ready to spring upon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiring
hope that the good thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a
hundred thousand angels to defend you always and for ever.
No comments