You have first to cultivate yourself, which means make yourself wise. By what? Meditation and discipline. But you can only do that when you’re clear, and your body is well. If you are not well, how do you think well? Alcohol makes you worse; alcohol doesn’t make you well. Alcohol and cigarettes make you sick. Everyone knows that! Why would you damage yourself when you want to lead the nation? So you have to be disciplined and meditate: to calm yourself down, to find the wisdom that is inside you and also to cultivate yourself. That’s it. Then, you can take care of your family. Of course, your children need you. If a little kid looks at you drinking and smoking all day, how are you going to take care of your family and tell them what to do, when you don’t do it? And then if you even fool around or something, that’s also a bad example for your kids.

So, first discipline yourself with wisdom and virtue, and then you can take care of the family. That’s natural. The old ancient wisdoms don’t even forbid you to have a family, but to cultivate yourself, and then you can take care of the family. Further on, you can lead the nation. They don’t even say, “Lead the nation.” They say, “Pacify the world.” See how big it can be? They don’t even limit it to a nation: Pacify the world! That is the great power of a spiritually cultivated person, a wise person. If the world were really wise and awakened, they would have chosen their leaders more carefully.

Spiritual Practitioners Are Shining Examples for the World

I suppose any good government would like to keep its subjects healthy, happy and intelligent. That’s the aim of any government leader. So, if anyone helps the government to do that, then they should be the friends of the government. And we are the friends of the government, because we keep the society sober, clean, moral and high, by making an example and spreading this example or giving people teachings to do just that. Any government always says, “We want to keep our people safe; we want to keep our people peaceful; we want to keep our people clean, happy and crime-free.”

We are doing just that, to help the government! So, any government should give us an award and say, “You are doing good; you are helping us!” Free of charge, even! They don’t even have to pay us. All governments have to pay their police or army to suppress crime, suppress criminals and protect the people. We are doing just that: without getting paid, without clashing with the police, without harming anyone and without having any weapons to harm anyone to begin with.

Imagine if everyone just did what we do! Maybe they wouldn’t be vegetarian to begin with, but no alcohol, no drugs and no cigarettes, would be so clean and more healthy; it would save a lot of money and everyone would be happy. They could have a good house, a good car, good health, a good family and be a good example for the children in school. Nothing tragic would happen anymore, or less would. Because let’s face it, sometimes children are not taught well at home. So when they get into school, they become bullies because they have a bad example at home! Maybe the father is drunk every day and beats up the family. The child learns from that, or he gets frustrated. Maybe the father is drunk and then dies or kills someone and goes to jail, and then the child is alone with the mother only and he’s frustrated. So he has to defend himself and grows up aggressive, because that’s the only way he knows -- to rule and become a bully. The family doesn’t make a good example. He came from a broken family; what do you want him to do, with no one to teach him! The father’s in jail or died, or was maimed or is a vegetable for life. Sometimes he drinks and goes home, beats the family up or dies because of alcohol. Then the kid doesn’t know what to do, so he grows defensive. And it works, because he’s weak and scared, and then that’s how he grows into aggressiveness and becomes a bully.

If we take away the alcohol and all the meat and cigarettes, then the family will be much better already, and the school will be a better place. So, it affects everything! The effect of a clean life is really big. It’s not just for one person or one family; it affects the whole society.

So, I think the world should do this. If they just do like us and follow our example, they don’t even need to study meditation with me or become all Saints. I don’t need to teach them; they don’t need to come see me. All they need to do is just live a clean life. They can even pray to God, or pray to whatever they want. But their virtues, their good life, will affect the whole world and the whole world will be a paradise already. No need for me!

Why doesn’t the world see this? Why don’t more leaders of nations reinforce this kind of clean-living, happy, peaceful Heaven for everyone? If they really want to take care of their family, that’s the way. At least reinforce it by making an example, because that’s what you have a power for. You can change the world! You’re the leader of a nation; you can at least change your nation.