The life of Rama has been read by Hindus for thousands of years and they are never tired of it. That shows that each time they hear the story of Rama they feel exalted and they derive some benefit from the story. As a young prince, Rama had the education of spiritual and of ethical nature under the teachership of Vashishta, the great spiritual master of that time. So to begin with in his life there was this great influence, and under the influence of Vashishta, Rama grew to be an ideal young man.

Then there was a ceremony arranged, because there was a demand from every side for Sita, the maiden whose hand was asked by all the different maharajahs of that time. And Rama went there. The story is that all of the princes, all of the maharajahs were dressed with jewels and gorgeous dresses, except Rama, because he came directly from Vashishta's school, which was in the forest, so he was living a country life. And with all this Rama won in the end. It was Rama who struck the right note in the heart of Sita, and all the maharajahs who were present, were against.

Then for twelve years, as his father had taken a vow that he must go in the forest and live an ascetic life, a life of thought, before he could be entitled to rule the country, he was sent. And Sita went with Rama. Ravana, the prince who was most opposed to Rama's success as a bridegroom, followed Rama to the forest and seized the opportunity which had presented itself. Rama had gone to bring some fruits and water, and there Sita was left alone; and Ravana lifted Sita against her wishes, and flew away with her.

Now then again there is a test. The one test is for a prince to be outside his country, and the other test is to have lost all he had, that was his bride. But here Rama shows balance again: instead of being discouraged, he still trusts in her love for him, he still has trust in providence. Instead of being disappointed, he went on searching for her. In the end she was found, a captive in the garden palace of Ravana.

And then it is said that to free Sita Rama accepted the help of Hanuman, the king of the monkeys. Well, that also gives us a great key to the science of biology. It was a monkey, but not quite a monkey. Because they cannot find the missing link, therefore they say it was a monkey. It was a new race just sprung from animals, a race which was to develop, to evolve into human beings in the end, a most primitive race, showing every trace of an animal. Darwin passed away disappointed that he could not find an example of that.

This again shows that in order to accomplish, or in order to wage a war against an earthly king, Rama had to seek an earthly help. He did not invite wise men to come and help him at that time. They would not have helped him. They would have said, "Have courage, be wise, have patience, sit down, calm yourself, cool yourself, have sense, be reasonable, she is not there, it is impossible, you are not a ruling prince, you are in the forest, you are alone. The prince Ravana has taken her away, she would not have gone if she had not been willing."

Every sort of reasoning clever people would have brought before him. But the primitive people were ready to give their lives in order to serve the spiritual soul. And at the same time it shows how primitive minds can feel the spiritual soul more easily, more readily, than so-called clever men. They sympathized with him. No one else came except the wild people of the forest.

That shows the wisdom of Rama also, to control this people, who were accustomed to go one to the East, another to the South; one creeping, one walking, another jumping: that was their spirit. To control the army of that kind of people, and then to make a success in the war with a king, that again shows Rama's balance. Then, as he had confidence that Sita was for him, Sita was his bride, he fought, and he got back to his land. And the most interesting part of the story is that they came in an airplane. The monkeys had to jump back, but Rama had the airplane.

How little we know of that time! How many civilizations came and how many civilizations went down, and we do not know about it. How far can we trace back the history of the world? Who can deny that there was once a greater evolution in everything -- art, science, mechanics -- even still more wonderful than we see today. There are a thousand examples to be found in the Mahabharata, the ancient tradition which has been handed down for thousands of years, that Rama came down in Viman, which means in the airplane.

After this ordeal, after trial, when Rama came back he was able to rule his country in an ideal way. Therefore balance is represented by the life of Rama, and all such things as courage, hope, confidence, trust, all these come from balance.

But one might ask, "This story does not tell us anything spiritual. It is only his bride, she was lost; Rama went there, he fought with Ravana; he won, brought her back and then became king. It was all happiness. There were little difficulties, but it was all smooth." But I should say spirituality is not in words, spirituality is in acts. Rama had acted and proved the power of spirituality.