Loyalty to One's Country

Loyalty to One's Country 

So long as you live in any country, you must be loyal to it. 

We must not allow subversive elements in this country. Treachery, I think, is the most terrible of all crimes, the most dreadful of all evils in this world. Never be treacherous to your family, your neighbors, or your friends. And never be treacherous to your country; those who cannot be faithful to their country cannot be faithful to God.

Remember the story of the bat. When the birds and the beasts were fighting, the bat sided first with one and then the other, depending on who was winning at the time. After a truce was signed by the birds and the beasts, both made a resolution: "Let us destroy the bat."  

So remember, it is of utmost importance to be loyal to your country. If you don't like its ideals, give it your blessing and go somewhere else. There is too much lack of patriotism in this country. I don't mean that you should love America with the kind of patriotism that tries to destroy other nations; rather, love America and her ideals so that you may in turn love the whole world.

Remember, you are living in America for just a little while; in other incarnations you may live in other coun- tries. If everyone first loves his own country and then expands that love to include all other countries as his own, there will be no more wars. 

So never tolerate anyone who is not a true patriot. No one has a right to live in this country who doesn't love it. It is wrong to bite the hand that feeds you. I would rather that people beat me up or kill me than be treacherous to me. Treachery I abhor; I have never betrayed anyone. The love I have given to all, I have given sincerely. There is no one who can stand before me and truthfully say I have been treacherous. When I give my love, I give it wholeheartedly. That doesn't mean I am not aware of those who are insincere with me, before the searchlight of divine love, everything is revealed. So, dear ones, never be treacherous to anyone, and whenever you see treachery, correct that person and refuse him cooperation or support in his wrongdoing. 

God knows who is wrong and who is right. Let us all be united in everything that is noble. Uphold the ideals of this country. If ever aggressive war came to destroy this country and America needed my help, I would give it — for the love of the people, and to defend the nation on whose land I live. We should do our part to help protect America and all those we love, but at the same time we must not allow ourselves to be filled with hatred. Never has the world needed love so much as now.

Love will be a potent factor in eradicating war. Let us all resolve that no matter what happens, we will make God the polestar of our love, and that we will send that love to all. Mentally pray with me: "Heavenly Father, Thou art love,* I am made in Thine image. I am a sphere of love. I expand this sphere to include all mankind in the kingdom of my love." 

This war will not be the war to end all wars. Whoever wins and then uses that power to penalize other nations, those nations will try to strike back with greater force some day. Man's destructive potential has grown much greater than his constructive power. There will be no safety in the electrical age. Methods of war on a greater and greater scale will come.

?So thank God that Dwapam Yuga, the electrical age, is only 2,400 years. 

Sri Paramahansa Yogananda