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GUIDELINES TO NATIONAL WORKERS
GUIDELINES TO NATIONAL WORKERS
[From THOUGHTS EXCELSIOR of Shri
Guruji Golwalkar, published by Jagarana Prakashana, Bangalore. P.Poojneya
Golwalkar Ji, the second Sarsanghachalak of Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh].
Recognising the good in others
is one of the greatest and rarest of human virtues. The guiding principle
of a worker should be to water the seeds of virtues in others and carefully
weed out their vices and defects without parading them before all and presenting
before them the silent example of his own superior conduct. Even if a worker
has certain great qualities, let him come down from his 'heights' to the
level of an average man and share his greatness with the rest of his brethren
in society. Let him become one with others without making others feel that
he is something extraordinary. Even a remote shadow of separateness arising
out of the consciousness of one's capacity and sacrifices should not be
allowed to fall between one' self and the people. After all, the various
virtues that a worker strives to cultivate in himself are for offering
them at the feet of the society. That is the essence of real greatness.
The test of true friendship is
the ability to remain unoffended in the face of adverse comments. Even
if a person says or does something which in the eyes of others appears
to harm or insult him and still he does not in the least feel its prick,
then alone can he claim true friendship with that person.
The attitude of 'I am no changer;
take me as I am', will be of little use in building an organised life of
people. That is like a foot-rug with the letters 'USE ME'. Should there
not be any difference between living men of dedication and a lifeless object?
As the work progresses and gains
in prestige and influence, people naturally begin to praise the worker.
And therein lies the danger spot for a worker. He begins to feel conscious
of his capacity and influence and a sort of vanity develops in him. The
repulsive odour of his ego will then begin to stink in the nostrils of
those who come near him. They will try to keep themselves at a respectable
distance from him. Saint Jnaneshwar has beautifully described the strange
nature of ego: 'Strange are the ways of ego. It does not touch the ignorant,
but clutches the learned by the throat and lands them in grave danger'.
He should therefore be extremely circumspect and not fall prey to the deceptive
tactics of ego. Vanity is the greatest enemy of all virtues.
The desire to strut about in the
limelight of name and fame, and to shine at the top only betrays one's
lack of inner worth and weakness for selfadulation. After all, what is
great about sitting at the top? Even a crow can sit at the top of a dome?
Falling a victim to emotional upsurges
may disturb the mental balance to a dangerous extent. Those who cannot
restrain their emotions will give vent to them in several undesirable channels.
Some will give themselves up in grieving and lamenting, some others indulge
in desperate acts, harming the interests of the ideal itself. Often such
reckless acts even destroy whatever favourable conditions the others might
have built up over a long time by their patient toil.
When we wear a colored shirt it
makes very little difference in appearance whether we wear it for a day
for a fortnight. But, on a clean white cloth even a drop of water leaves
its mark for a time. So the purer we aspire to become, the more the vigilance
we have to exercise over each moment of our life. We have to alert ourselves
at every step as though the whole of society outside is keenly eyeing us
only to peck at and expose our failings.
There are persons endowed with
pure character but who are rude and offensive in their speech and behaviour.
They even pride themselves on their rudeness. They say 'I call a spade
a spade. If it offends anyone I care two hoots.' But a worker who is devoted
to national reorganisation cannot afford to be so. Sweetness of speech
is a 'must' for a national worker.
Let the stone in the foundation
be our ideal. It lies there unseen, unadmired. It may not be beautiful,
may not be polished; but all the same it is the basis. If it moves or is
shaken, the whole edifice crumbles down. More important than anything else,
is that stone in the foundation. With all that, the stone remains there
with self-oblivious service and self-effacement. That should be the spirit
with which we have to work among the people.
It is necessary for the worker
to sit in solitude daily in the mornings and nights and probe his mind.
With a discerning intellect he must find out whether any worthy thought
had entered his mind. If so, he should resolve to throw them out and become
purer the next day. He should detach his mind from unholy associations
and make it immersed in thoughts concerning the chosen mission of his life.
It is possible that he succumbs to the same failings on the next day also.
But he need not despair. He should continue the daily selfsearching and
assertion of his holy resolve. He will, in course of time, find that his
mind has become less prone to evil propensities and more attuned to the
noble impulses.
Today, more than anything else
mother needs such men - young, intelligent, dedicated and, more than all
virile and masculine. Victory is ensured when Narayana, eternal knowledge,
and Nara eternal manliness, combine. And sure are the men who make history
- the men with capital 'M'.
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