..:: ARISE YE YOUTH! SWAMI RAMDAS

The world is thrilling with the expectations of a new consciousness, a new renaissance. The very air is surcharged with the messages of brotherhood, harmony and unity of mankind. The accumulated wisdom of ages is flowing out through vehicles inspired with the spirit of this great ideal. The narrow conceptions, the denominational shibboleths and vague slogans, that hitherto lured peoples astray from the path of peace, goodwill and fellowship, are being rejected. Experience, all the world over, has opened the eyes of man to the infinite possibilities of human life and purpose. We are now rising on the crest of a gigantic wave, imbued with the invincible power of the almighty Truth. Inter-communication on the physical plane having been, through the discoveries of science, facilitated with amazing results, annihilating distance, has brought all peoples of the earth within the folds of a common feeling of near kinship and intimate cooperation. The days for thinking on problems affecting humanity, on terms of narrow, individual, communal, or even national lines, have passed.

The dawn heralding a universal consciousness, subtly and irresistibly breaking through the lesser ideals that had hitherto influenced the affairs of the world, is facing us on all sides. The glorious sun of the spirit of harmony, whose rays had ages ago shed their healing and elevating brilliance, is again dispelling the darkness of ignorance in the heart of mankind. This sun, it is admitted on all hands, arose in the East. Although, with the passage of time, this sun of eternal wisdom had been, for longer or shorter intervals, hidden behind dark clouds, we are now beholding that the clouds are being scattered by the benevolent hand of Providence, as we already feel the warmth, light and glow of this eternally radiant orb.

On whom does the task of carrying the banner of brotherhood and peace, so that the messages of the wise may be fulfilled, devolve? Who should come forward to work out the Divine Plan in bringing about a blessed change in the destiny of mankind? Who are the real custodians of peace and harmony in the years to come? Who should gird up their loins in a united endeavour for the regeneration of the world? By whose sacrifice and adventurous spirit can the present great awakening be led towards its exalted consummation? Yes, this magnificent work rests on the youth of the world.

O young men and women, turn ye from the ways of apathy and irresponsibility, turn ye from the path of false ambitions and vain pursuits, and marshal yourself as the very soldiers, and take your proper place in the great world-affecting movement that has been started. Hasten ye to strain your every nerve, utilise every iota of your energy, to offer every minute of your life - nay, to dedicate your very existence to the service of the great Cause that demands your concentrated attention and whole-hearted cooperation. Youth is the hope of the world. Arise, O ye blooming flowers of humanity, and shed your beauty and fragrance all around. Light your lamps, O friends, and march onward leading mankind to the goal of true peace, blessedness and happiness.