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DISCOURSE 44
291 CULTURE IS THE FOUNDATION FOR SPIRITUAL PURSUITS
The Kuladharma which is noble and in the carrying on of which there is no need to commit such sins as violence, falsehood, stealing, ignobility, addictions to bad habits etc. should be conformed to. We should admire people who conform to that tradition. Actually, the great Indian culture is still alive because of the conformity of the people to noble traditions. Culture is the foundation for spiritual pursuits. Therefore, you should not criticize or deprecate any traditions that help culture to flourish. There can be varities among Kuladharmas. The traditions of all families cannot be the same or similar. Some are similar; some are different.
In the lives of noble men, dharma (religion) and culture are harmonised. Many special streams of culture keep flowing through their lives. Therefore, such people are exemplary in society and in the country; and they are the springs of inspiration for others. What you require is an eye for virtues; and what you require is a subtle and incisive intellect to realise and visualize the speciality of noble people.
ALWAYS REFRAIN FROM WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE
Another special virtue of noble people is to discard the propensity of spending money wastefully and improperly. Noble people do not expend their bodily, mental and pecuniary potentialities wastefully. They know the line of demarcation between wasteful expenditure and useful expenditure. They have the intelligence to distinguish between wasteful and useful expenditure. By avoiding the wasteful expenditure of energy, they conserve energy. Consequently, they possess abundant energy by virtue of which, they can attain their objectives speedily.
Those great men do not indulge in useless or base contemplations. They do not entertain foul thoughts and they do not weave wasteful webs of wild fancy. Therefore, their intellectual potentialities remain intact. The intellectual potentialities get exhausted on account of futile or sinful reflections and contemplations. The mind grows weak and it will not have the
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