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‘Young,
free and single’.
These three words best describe
the mentality of today’s youth.
They are at a delicate transition
in their lives, expected by society
to be responsible and yet by that
same society trusted with
sponsibilities or allowed to think
for themselves. It is a period
where they have to leave their
childhood dreams and accept the
realities of life. If we can learn to
trust them, to respect their views,
to treat them as the young adults
they are - and at the same time
still love them as we did when
they were children, then may be
they will be able to accept these
realities and take on the task to
improve the world we live in.
If not, they may rebel against
society and in effect, against us.
We can see Swamishri preparing
yesterday’s children to become
tomorrow’s leaders...
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| Swamishri
With Youth |
| Surviving... |
Every student faces a dilemma. He has to achieve a balance between
the demands made upon him. The tension of exams, the pressure from
the family to excel and of course, the temptations of society. Whatever
he does, right or wrong, is ultimately reflected in his results. Teaching
them the formulae and calculations of life, Swamishri educates them
in how to survive in and out of the classroom...
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| Question
1 |
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Students : We realise that concentration is essential for our studies.
How can we develop deeper concentration while studying?
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Swamishri : If you want to study well you need to be in a suitable
atmosphere. You have such an atmosphere here (Akshar Purushottam
Youth Hostel, Vidhyanagar). Secondly, we should follow the example
of other good students and forget about going out to have fun. Thirdly,
pray to God. This is very important. And you should take heed of
the ideas taught to you by the sadhus.
Because of your age you will naturally think of the cinema. But
we should pray that such thoughts leave our minds. We should live
according to the rules of the hostel and always put in our best
efforts. We should form a habit of revising continuously. Whether
or not we remember anything, we should still keep revising. Once
we become regular in that, we will be able to concentrate. While
revising, we should stop and think, ‘What does it say? What
have I learnt?’ Just as we remember God in all our activities,
we should also try to remember what we have read. Especially if
we want to achieve over 85% in 12th grade. Even during our vacation
our thoughts should be turned to our upcoming studies, that’s
real concentration.
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The social climate outside is so bad that it’s hard
to control our eyes and ears.
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Swamishri : That’s why we’ve founded the Gurukuls (hostels).
If we make a small effort, then we can earn God’s grace. Everything
here is so convenient for us yet we are still lured outside because
it appears so appealing that we simply feel like going out there.
But if we keep away from bad company, then it will not be difficult
to stay away. We already have deficiencies from our past lives and
on top of that, there are so many temptations. Only if we have a
firm goal that, ‘I want to study’ will we be able to avoid
trouble. One thought we should always keep in our minds is that
we should never do anything which may disrupt our studies. Even
if we are offered 100,000 rupees!”
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But we become nervous as soon as we enter the exam hall
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Swamishri : If we haven’t revised properly, of course we will
be nervous! But if we have studied hard for the exam, what is there
to be nervous about? Why should we worry about such things as ‘What
types of questions will be asked?’ or ‘Will I pass?’
Such negative thoughts only depress us. If you can’t answer
a question, leave it till last and go on to the next one. First
answer all those you do know. But if we think, ‘I won’t
be able to do it’, then that is our weakness. We shouldn’t
be pessimistic. From the start, form a habit to see only good things
and to imbibe only good qualities.
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(7 August 1986, Vidhyanagar)
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