(From speech delievered to students of Chennai)

First, we have to analyze what is life?and what is success?-to understand the secrets of sucess in life.The period between birth and death is life.We are all living only in that period of time.And every moment of that time is valuable and every moment we should endeavour to born as human being, because that is the highest level and having been born as a humanbeing we have the sixth sense of discretion with which we can progress in life,provided we make proper use of it.In our faith of Sanathana Dharma we believe in past Karma.And past Karna determines the place and surroundings where each one of us is born.

Our country of which Iam very proud,although I havespent a very large period of my life,about twentyfive ,abroad ,still in every nerve centre of mine,I am proud of being an Indian.I refused, twice ,the offers of becoming citizen both from Germany and Switzerland.

India is known as the punya Bhoomi.With all the problems, with all the difficulties, we can proudly say it is the Puniya Bhoomi.And despite all the advancements made by the Western Countries, they all look forward to India.

Whereever I go, they are all a bit intrigued.They are kept in suspense about India.A very strange nation -- that inspite of Poverty people are happy, people are contented, people want to achieve the best.Some do, some do't.But, all of you who are sitting here want to learn a secret.Therefore, all of you , including me , are lucky to be born in this Bharatha Desam, otherwise known as India.The name India was coined by the British people.Of course, today, we are united as a country, although the problems are there because it is a vast and a huge country.

What is life?

Life is to be seen in four stages.The stage of childhood, youth,middle age and old ae.Over the childhood, we have very littleinfluence , because we cannot fix where we are going to b eborn. The family background, the surroundings- these are not fixed by us, but a good childhood, definitely makes the youth phase, the development of the youth phase , much more easy , because certain qualities get ingrained in you during the period of Childhood.The famous proverb in Tamil says "Aril Valayathathu Aimbathil Valayathu".But it is not fully true.One can correct all these things in one's life.We have the power to correct.We have the power to improve.

During the period of youth the following important developments take place and they are essential and we call it the "D's -- THE FIVE DEE'S -- Dedication,Discipline,Devotion,Duty Consciousness and Development of Character.These are the five Dee's.Good Learning and education are imperative, although it is said that we are all born with knowledge , full knowledge. We are only unlearnig , what we should not do, this is what Sages say.You should look at the block of stone, and the sculptor is making the figure of Lord Krishna.He is not making the figure -- he is only removing the unwanted Chips and suddenly Krishna is born.Likewise, we are all born with the gift of God, with Godliness in us, with full power and full knowledge.So the child is compared to the Lord in itself, because it is not influenced by the external factors.So the child is like the Paramathma.But later, it all depends on how we lead the life.So, the learning and education are to make you and understand and relaise the important aspects of life.Each one's life will be different.Therfore you have to unlearn those things which are not required for you.While learning, it is very important to have the Guru - Sishya Bhavana. This is why in the old days, the education used to be called the Gurukula- like they still have in Shanthinekenthen in West Bengal.

You should , as a student demontrate your willingness to learn and you must accept your Guru as a man of superior knowledge and keep ears open and recieve all that he gives you without judging.If you start comparing with what you have seen in the Newspaper, in the Television , then you will not learn. Therefore the Guru - Sishya Bhavana is very important to learn.If you try to adopt that then you will find suddenly things are coming to you much easier.You are able to absorb the beautiful things that they are giving you very much easier, than when you put a block and try to make it difficult for yourself.

During the phase of education and learning, one point is very important. Whatever you do , you should concentrate on that. In India, generally the tendency is to do several things at the same time.That cannot happen--"Pala Maram Kanda Thachan Oru Maramum Vettan".So you have to concenntrate on what you are doing.If you do that, you will find things are very much easier because your faculties are going to that particular issue. Ther should not be too many diversions.Of course, the basic thing is , you must have a good health which you must take care of.Initially the parents are responsible and , later on, you yourself are responsible for maintaing the proper health.Here I say there are three "E's".What are they? The Exercise of the Mind, that is constantly to Contemplate, to do exercise of the Body which is Physical Exercise and the Exercise of the Spirit which is Prayer, Meditation.

The period of the youth, if it is successful,lays the foundation for the proper growth and harmony in later life.The three things that are important in life, for everyone, are thought , word and action. You must control your thoughts , so that you have positive thoughts.When you think something, and you express that only, then, if you are devoted to your cause, your expression will be pure.You must then proove it in your action.You should not think in one way and then act in some other way.Once you achieve this, then your personality in unified( the trinity as they call it ) and you will find a tremendous expansion in your capacity, your capabilities , your vitality and your power.All these are experienced by me in my life.

Good thoughts, positive thinking, clear thinking-- they are all very important and also good Satsang i.e,. Cultivating Good Friends, so that you are able to benefit by the friendship and do not dissipate your energies in the wrong thoughts.That is why they say in Englis 'I judge a person from the Company he or she keeps'.You bring your friends, and if I analyse them, then I know what you are .So I judge the person by the company he or she keeps.

'Life' as you see have now seen is shaped by our own effors.God helps those who help themselves. You should not expect God to do everything for you.If you do your bit, then he will do three times / four times that bit- absolutely certain.But , you must do your bit with full devotion and dedication. Your duties have to be performed in the sprit of dedication - then inner purity can be achieved with out any doubt.

LIFE - the four letters of the word of Life ,'L' for Live, 'I' for Intensively,'F' for Fervour and 'E' for Efficiency.So, live intensively with Fervour and Efiiciency.This is how I would like all of you to live your life.Every moment of your life has to be lived with focus of mind.You are responsible for everything that you do.You cannot blame somebody else.Dont worry about the past or the future.Always be in the moment.Right action at the moment is very important.Therefore, focus of mind is required and this will guarantee absolutely good life for you.If childhood is shaped into a good phase of the youth life, then the middle age will be wonderful.And old age will have guarenteed peace of mind and happiness.For Indian conditions, for the Tropical Conditions, I will call, up to five years as childhood, five to twenty-five as youth , twenty- five to fify as middle age , fifty and upwards as OldAge.Whereas in Europe, it is different.Their children do not mature so fast.If you take a five year old child of Europe, the European children are very backward but later they take over, because they are equipped with lots of aids to concentrate on their education.Thus the childhood talents come out very nicely.This is the essence of the term 'life' and the life giving force is 'Prana' which is given by God.With out 'Prana' you cannot exist even for a moment.'Prana' gives you the vitality.Vitality ensures the power of action.Act wisely, live calmly and reap the fruits of Good life.

What is success?

Now we go to success.If you achieve something you want to have the feeling of success.Everybody wants to achieve.Everybody wants to be successful.I cannot see anybody who will say "I don't want success" -- people normally want success always.There are methods by which one can predict, initiate and pre arrange success , you can organise success,hard work, sincerity and whole- hearted approach to things are prerequisites of the pre conditions for success.

Proper planning of life and application of correct strategy will give you the aids to achieve success in all your endeavours.Success and failure are cornerstones of life.They are like twin brothers or like twist sisters.A proverb says ' failure is the stepping stone to success'.A certain amount of perfection in the art of doing things is the easy way to achieve success.For example,take a sportsman who is doing high jump or pole vault.He will jump a particular height.Then they will raise it.He finds it difficult,he might fail,but with willpower,with concentration he tries and suddenly you find he jumps.Similarly in the pole vault-if you see the world Olympics-you can see what a miraculous thing is being achieved by people, just by power of concentration and willpower.The moment you do that God gives you the power immediately .He comes ,Krishna comes there,to help you.So,with repeated efforts and proper co-ordination of mind and body,one is able to jump,the jump which originally was considered as impossible .This applies to everything in life. Always think ofthe high jump,then you will be able to achieve success.

Power of thought-force

The thought-force is very important.As you think ,so you will become. So,if you think negatively,if you go on reapting that kind of thing,you will not be able to succeed,because you are doing' autohypnosis'.Therefore,you should think positively."I will achieve;there is nothing which cannot achieve",-if you think like this,then,even with your drawbacks you will be able to come forward.And,therefore ,intensity of the thought and sincerity of purpose are very important.'Thinking'-I have classified into seven layers of thinking.Four of them are gross and three of them are subtle.Gross means basic,subtle means a little more involved,which requires divine grace.The primitive thinking is inherent in us.suddenly,you scatch your head.you do things like that -they are all habits in you.Without realizing ,as reflex reaction ,you do it although in foreign countries they have etiquettes,and such actions have been shunned in society.In front a man you should not do all such things.These are being inculcated from childhood.So you willnot find a European doing that.In India we must always learn these things,because we areliving in a world society.we are nomore in a small Mylapore society.

Then you have the cruel thinking which is the animal instinct.suddenly a fellow says something harsh to you.He may be your friend.Because he spoke harshly,you give him a slap.You should control.You should not react cruelly and do that.But at that moment the animal instinct takes over.

Then you have the emotional thinking -the feeling and the emotions.You cry,you laugh,you smile.I wish you to laugh more than you cry.

Then the intellectual thinking which helps you in planning.

Now there are the three subtle deep layers of thinking.one is the creative thinking .This is the shaping of ideas and talents that are given to you by God.Each one has been a bank balance.It is up to you to use it,build up the bank balanceand become rich with ideas and thoughts and talents or drain it off and become a pauper-an emptyman- vaccum in yourself.Then it is very difficult to regain your original status.So this is the creative thinking.Now the next is fturistic thinking.Every one must have ambitions, hopes.You may not be able to achieve all your ambitions, but you set your goal, you set your ambitions and work towards that.I set my ambitions when I was in the Engineering College.I was in a far of place like Trivandrum.Iam talking about the year 1948.I said that at the end of my Engineering studies that I was going to Germany.I told this to my friends and everyone laughed at me."Where is Germany? Where are you?".Then it happened.Because that was my goal. I worked towards that, prayed for it , equipped myself.I applied to the Government of India and I was selected because of the strong ambition.So have ambitions.There is nothing wrong in that, but you need not speak about that to everybody.You have it for yourself - You plan and work towards it.

The next is decisive thinking.This calls for action.That means once you have thought about something, you should think and not let others think.You should not let the Television to teach you as to what you should do.You should have your own mental faculties - think calmly.One of my bosses , who was the Director of my Company, taught me a method- take a piece of paper, draw a line in the middle and note down the pros and Contras.See what is more, pros or Contras.Then you will know yourself.Sometimes you have ideas that may not be possible to achieve yourself.

you may be having funny notions,but think camly and carefully -consult some elders,who are wise,who know more about it.But then ,once you have thought adequately,take a decision.Don't waver and don't go back.Even if it is a wrong decision ,doesn't matter -take a decision and go forward.For instance,you may face situation and you want to decide.you want to go to B.com or medicine or Law-this is the turning point in your life.So you must think carefully.You know your own talents,you know your own facilities,you know your own ablities-think carefullyand take adecision.This is the decisive thinking.

Today's world gives excessive importance to material success and once having entered the path of material life ,the rules of the game have to be followed very maticulously.Examine all opportunities and choose the right one in keeping with your mental makeup.Donot decide for the sake of ours.Decide for yourself.It does not matter,if you make a mistake as it can be changed,later in life.Don't do things just for the sake of others.Do it for yourself.Don't be misguided by others and becoe a square peg in the round hole.

How to invoke God?

Now I have defined lifeand what success means in general terms.Let us go to the next aspects.What are the secrets of Guarenteed success in life?I told you earlier that powers are inbuilt in every human being.Each one of us is a manifestation of God.God is in everyone of us not only in the temple or in the church.In the temple or in the church God is there because you are invoking the God there.There is no God in the stone unless all of us go and invoke the God.You send the God there from you because you are not able to realize the God within you .Therefore you transfer it to the stone.Therefore, all people go there and and invoke the God, then the God is in the stone.But God is in you.You can gradually develop the capacity to see the God in yourself, and God in everyone.Therefore, you must be kind to everyone.Everyone of you is a God man.Everyone of you can perform miracles, can attain siddhis.But, one should set his own priority.If you want to become a philosopher , you go in that line.If you want to become a successful Engineer, you go in that line.The choice is yours.

So, this manifestation of God is to be understood.Godmen are none but those who have recognized this basic fact of inbuilt powers.They invoke these powers by tuning the body, mind and spirit.They sit in the Himalayas or sit in the cave, meditate intensively and invoke these powers.In normal life, we can only invoke the powers to the to the extent we require.But, we constantly enhance our invocation because brain has got so much capacity.Most of us utilize only a small fraction of the brain.Through proper dedication, with proper meditation and concentration , the larger part of the brain can be put to use,then you become more powerful.Your memory becomes wonderful.You can quote things out of your memory and you will be able to solve complicated problems, and be a great success in life.

The training of the mind and spirit from young age with due respect and regard to the spirit will surely open the portals of success and joy in life.This I have experienced in my life in ample measure.I have always been very optimistic.I was influenced right from my young age by Kanchi Paramacharya, SwamiVivekananda,BhaghawanRamanaMaharishi,LordChrist,SwamiSivananda,SwamiChinmayananda, Swami Dhayananda and others.These great people have given us lot of valuable things. In calmness, if you read their books, yo will be able to get some of the ideas.Then I developed optimism- I used to say , if you have a problem and your friends can solve , you go to them.But if nobody is able to solve , come to me and I will try to solve it.This was the spirit with which I was approaching. There is m\nothing impossible in life.That spirit must be there in each noe of you.

Pure love and positive thinking

The basic quality,which one has to develop in one's life, is love for others.Most people love themselves, they look at the mirror , they enjoy their face, they love themselves, but it is not enough.youshould also love others.Universal love.You should have love and affection for all people.Even to your enemies you should not be harsh.By cultivating this love you can avoid the opposite,that is the hatred.The hatred can only harm you.See the good things in others and not their defects because you also have defects.If each one of us see only good things then you will develop your personality.No one is perfect including you or me.Sri Sathya Sai Baba says 'Love ever: hate never'.Be positive and cultivate positive thoughts.Always keep trying and don't give up. Try,try and try till you succeed.

If you see the greatmen and their lives you find several examples.In Germany they say "No master comes down from the heaven".The master is made in this world by our own efforts. So keep trying till you succeed. And again a German proverb says "Impossible can be done immediately ,a miracle will take a little longer". you must have this kind of spirit.Just as the Indian philosophy says,"when you have a glass is half empty", you are a pessimist.You must be an optimist and you should say "it is half full".Look at the positive side.That is the attitude one should take.

Prayer and surrender to God

The most important thing is , you should, during your life, ensure that you do not build up jealousy, anger, hatred and illwill.These things can be avoided gradually.Due to childhood problems, even if ceratin instincts are there, which are not favourable to you, you can by surrender to God and sincere efforts , ensure that these negative instincts gradually disappear.

Mere prayer and lip service to God is not enough.Theprayer must come from your heart.You can do it in your own house.It is not essential that you go to temple every day.It must be a sincere prayer.Human body is the temple of God.So you must keep it like a tample.You must take proper care.Make proper use of it by harmonizing the Trinity- Mind, body and spirit.

Secrets of success

Now we go into the details of success.Success is certaily a motivating factor.For example, you work for a examination.You work very hard, you study with great diligence.But you should do it in a relaxed and composed manner, with out getting nervous or tense.

I have found that, important and difficult things which you are not able to understand,after thinking carefully , you should transcribe to paper.Once you write something, it goes better into yuor memory.So reading and writing have to be combined.Most people today are loosing the habit of writing.This is very bad as writing is very important.You will be able to memorise things easier.You don't have to be worried at all.Then success guarenteed.If you do not do this and you fail in one examination, then psychologically you feel depresed and you go on failing.The very monumental example is the Charted Accountant Examination.You might have heard,"if you don't pass in the first attempt (which most people do actually , if they are brilliant and work hard), you will take several attempts to pass" because the barrier comes in.Psychology plays a very important role.

You should have dealings with positive thinking people, optimistic people.if you are weak in a subject , have close contact with people who are strong in that subject.This person will induce courage in you and help you to learn it better.Never be proud of over confident.

Form good habits

Do not watch Television excessively, ecause it has a very bad effect.The western people have found that radio active rays are coming from Television.In Switzerland children are not allowed to watch TV.If there is something very important,YES.Otherwise the TV is always off.The teachers keep a close watch on this and they, by seeing the eyes of the children , know which boy or girl has watched the TV.So the students are very careful.I don't say 'do not watch TV at all' , but keep it rationed because it blunts the finer thinking of mind.Reading a book is a habit which is very important; not only novels and comic books, you must read good books.If you waste you time now, the time which is lost , you will never get it back.Every day gone , is gone for ever.So you should use it to read the biography of great people.And when you read the biography of great people like Mahatma Ghandi, Pandit Nehru , etc., then you get a lot of inspiration. You will be charged with dynamism.You can read historical movels, good literature and spiritual books.Do not read the trash, as the trash has got another bad effect.If you read the trash, it will such your energy and vitality.It is something like what you feel when you come out of a cinema hall.You migh have enjoyed the movie, but when you come out, you feel exhausted and tired.Everything costs you energy, and it is available only to certain extent.Therefore, make proper use of it.

Then comes the EGO.Ego is very essential , because without Ego, you wont have the desire to come forward, to work hard, but it should be accompanied by a feeling of humility and an attitude of surrender to God.Then this ego cannot hamper your growth.

How to deveop memory?

It is also very important to cultivate memory.When I learnt the German language, I learnt that with out going through any course or going through any Grammer Book.I learnt just by interaction with people, by listening, by reading.In three months, I picked it up.In eight months, I started delivering talks in German language.They ask me the secret of how I learnt it.I always say that there are five secrets.One is that you must love the country and the people.If you dont love a country and the people, you will never learn the language.

Next , you must really work hard, read, write , go through the news papers.If you dont understand, take the help of a dictionary.

Thirdly, you must speak out, even if you are worng.Somebody will correct and you won't make that mistake again.The fourth things is memory.This memory , of course is a divine gift.But the divine gift will come to you whan you invoke the divine grace,by concentratiion, by one--pointedness, by prayer, by meditation.

And the fifth is again love.It starts will loving the nation, ends with loving the people.You must have a loving heart, affection towards all fellow human beings, then can master any language.Therefore , as I said, by daily prayer and meditation, one pointedness and power of concentration, one can ensure the growth of memory.And the repeated use of the informatiom you have will polish your memory.If you do not use, you will forget.

Once you repeat things, then it goes into your memory and there is a tremendous capacity in your brain for memory.You can invoke the divine grace and the power of your memory keeps growing.

The thinking faculty, the seven layers of thinking, has to be consciously developed.Do not accept or copy ready made answers.If something is not clear consult somebody who has more clarity on the subject.

Simple Facts of Life:

The most important point you should know is that most of the things are easy and uncomplicated.Even if you go to the examination hall, dont start attempting the difficult questions.Start with the easy questions and at the end, the questions you thought were difficult will become easy.If you approach with confidence, solutions will be readily available. Infact , solutions are invariably burried in the problem itself because the problems are man made.Most of the problems are created by us by some maladjustment of our thinking.

Inspiration and imagination will grow in calm mind.If you do not waste your time and fritter away your energy, then your mind will be more calm.

Hardwork is required.Inspiration will help you but perspiration is important.

Take good care of your physical health.The food should be taken at regular intervals and in India, we, vegetarians, have to be careful that we do not take too much of acidic food.Acidic food upsets the stomach, and most common diseases come from the stomach and if common diseases are neglected, then they develop into major diseases.Excessive spices and fried food should be avoided.

You can cure many diseases by contemplation.I have tried it.If you develop a pain in your hand, concentrate on your hand and put your energy towards that.The pain will gradually disappear and similarly with the headache.Similarly with minor ailments.Once it becomes a little complicated then you have to resort to medicines.

Physical exercise is very important.Yoga is, of course, very good, and then combined with Physical exercise will take care of Oxygen supply.If you don'y have enough oxygen, you will start feeling drowsy.You won't be having the energy.Even while you are in the school or while attending the lectures suddenly you will feel tired, then you know something is wrong with the Oxygen supply.So take cre by doing Pranayama or simple breathing exercise.Pranayama is a yogic word.Life is determined by the number of breaths.Most of the people do not know that this is the secret.Totally you have so many number of births available to you and most of us are not conscious of our breathing.So what happens ? Most of us breath fast.The number of breaths available is exhaused in a short period.If you breath properly , the spped of breathing gets adjusted and you will have longer life.Very good oxygen supply is also ensured provided you breath fresh air. Therefore do not take breathing as an automatic thing.Think about all your organs everyday.Standup and pray and think of your whole body.Think of your face, your hand, your brain and feel them.Then the body will react better.Thank the lord for giving you all these.

Even a motor car, if you treat it nicely, will perform better.Even the trees, if you talk to them, they will respond to your affection,And your body is the temple of God.You cannot neglect that.

Each night, before going to bed, contemplate your achievements and failures.Note down the failures and consciously improve by better thinking.Most important is, early to bed and early to raise.Include personal prayers and contemplated meditation in your daily routine.

Planning

Plan your actions every day.The most important thing is planning.In India, people are not taught this.You are taught so many things but not planning.A very great man, the Managing Director of a very large organisation in Germany,Mr.Krupp came to India and went back.Pandit Nehru was the Prime Minister at that time.He wrote to the Ambassador,Mr.Nambiar, whom I knew very well , and asked him to go to Mr.Krupp and find out what were the defects in our country.

Mr.Krupp said "India is a wonderful country, very affectionate people,very hospitable ,beautiful landscapes ,etc.But what India lacks is planning.If planning is not done, your country cannot progress."People practise Crisis Management.When a crisis comes , they solve the crisis and manage from one crisis to another, but if you plan, you can avoid crisis.

Puntuality and discipline

Now, the most important attribute required is 'Puntuality'.If you do not succeed in that, you will never succeed in life.Never compramise on that, because you are planning with other person's time.You must be puntual for everything.If you respect time, time will respect you.This is what I have found.Iam absolutelysure about that.When time is lost, it is lost for ever.You will never get it back.That is why the word 'Kalam' is time.When a man dies , beautiful expression in Tamil,'Kalamagivittar'.He has merged with time.

Puntuality will help you to cultivate your personal discipline and self-discipline.These should be observed by everyone.If each one of us do that, then India will become a powerful nation.Only if lethergy is avoided and people are alert in doing everything (every action must be properly planned and executed in time.) then this country where population is considered a big problem, it will become a great asset.

God's grace

Always have consideration for others.For those in need of help, try to help them.Somebody who is your fellow student is less intelligent,give him some help because then God will take care of you.we are like raw diamonds.Unless you polish and polish ,the diamonds cannot shine.So polish yourself.You willstart radiating Godliness........See God in every one.Love others.Even your enemy will start realizing 'My God,I cannot be enemy to this person',then he willstart loving you.

And love is infectious.Once you start loving it becomes infectious.Everybody starts taking you as a model.So cultivate friendship with likeminded people and avoid anger and jealousy.Anger develops toxins in your system. The toxins are poisons.Even the food you eat becomes the poison.It cannot be digested or assimilated.so everytime you get angry,realize that you are ruinning your health.If you feel that somebody is doing better than you,then pray to God to achieve better results.But don't be jealous,because it will a negative impact on your growth.Appreciate the strength in others and continue your efforts with full faith in God.If you fellow some of these things, then you will have a guarenteed success in life.These are some of the secrets of guarenteed success in life.

May God bless you all!