17 August 1982
"I want to describe again how you must be diligent in your work. The world demands hard work and constructive action, so you must apply yourselves fully to your work. Do not fall back, but instead go on. Each step you take will benefit the whole world.
"Fulfilling your duty is the highest accomplishment - higher than any other sadhana, penance and the rest. Your duty comes first. The result of hard work is happiness and the result of laziness is pain. Troubles of this world are caused by inactivity. I repeatedly tell you this so that you will be industrious and be Benefitted.
"Everybody worked hard on the Ashram 'Company Garden' and you can see the results - how green it has become. Now you are working hard on the ashram fruit orchard. The first garden was agriculture and this one is horticulture. But the point is that these fields are not for me: they are for everybody. As much right as I have to this property, you have also.
"I want you to become brave warriors and attend carefully to your own duties. This is good for you.
"I want to see all the people liberated who have become dependent on the illusions of the material world. Life itself is uncertain and now the earth is endangered by atomic weapons and nuclear power, which will be eliminated.
"I want a world of brave and courageous people. Indeed those who work hard and are agnostics are more acceptable, for a time, than lazy spiritual hypocrites. I want to see the mis-use of non-violence eliminated. Man's powers of discrimination and his very blood have become thin from pursuing false doctrines. Those who would misuse appeasement defeat the purpose of life and become like mindless donkeys carrying loads on their backs.
"You must all join in this universal work, so that these things can be accomplished here and now. People devoted to God are active, and in India, the temples and religious centres that have been destroyed will be renovated. People are becoming more and more aware of the efficacy of spiritual potency.
"Each of you must cultivate great courage in yourselves to overcome harmful tendencies in this period. There have not been hundreds of Rams, Krishnas, Christs or Moseses. But the individuals have had tremendous effects on the whole world. Now change on a vast scale, such as at the time of the Mahabharata, will take place.
"Do not fall back in your work, but go on. Karma yoga is your first duty.
"I have said all of these things many times before. Every moment, in each breath, while eating, sleeping and working, remember the Lord's name."
