New Year’s Message

Cults can never be a worldwide culture. It is yoga which is going to be the culture of the future. We have made mistakes, and we are still persisting in making mistakes. The world cannot be saved unless the complete process of reorientation of yogic culture is imparted to every man, woman and child. Otherwise, we can never change the world, the country or society.

In order to change society, it is necessary to rethink and restructure all the social, moral, spiritual, and even political values. The present way of thinking, behaving and believing creates a total paradox between man’s ideals and reality. As such, yoga has to be established in every city as an important part of its culture.

Yoga is an international culture. From the North Pole to the South Pole, from Japan to Beirut you find ‘God’ in English, ‘Allah’ in Arabic, ‘Bhagavan’ in Sanskrit, ’Kadaval’ in Tamil; every language has a different representation for one God. However, the only spiritual science which is always one and the same is yoga. In every language, yoga is yoga, mantra is mantra.

From this you understand how yoga is international in nature, universal in character and total in its influence. Whether you go to England, America, Spain, Germany, France or Russia, you will find the same terms being used. In religion, we use various terms to signify the same experience – one says emancipation, another self-realization, nirvana or kaivalya. This is the difference between religions. The yogic culture is based on one term and one presentation of ideas, symbols and systems. Therefore, yoga is a universal culture. It represents the feelings, sentiments and ideals, not only of one nation, but of the whole world.

8 March 1981, Bhilai, Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh)