Westerners refer to us as mild Hindus. Others call us docile Indians. The Americans advertise for gate-crashing young men. About three or four generations ago, people valued walking slowly, speaking in a very low voice, answering questions, not asking questions. Young men would be pulled up if they hurried. One was taught not to speak unless spoken to. Calm, quiet, silent, steady movements were appreciated and were taught. The Hindu is mild because he espouses ahimsa, non-injury. The Indian or the Hindu is not for adventure on the seas or foreign territory. His adventure is INSIDE, in the domain of Spirit, where he scales new heights. The Spirit abides where the mountains abound or the wide seas expand endlessly. The Mother loved the mountains, the Master loved the seas. India became spiritual because both surround her sacred soil.
The Germans are perfectionists. Articles made in Germany will be of high workmanship and flawless. They subject themselves to the utmost discipline in work and organise it at its best. It is a nation that produced most of the European philosophers and the best of musicians. Beethoven was from Germany. The Scandinavian nations are known as Nordics. Their expertise is in the strength of will and orderliness. Wherever you find ORDER, behind that will be the hand of the Nordics. Europe has nothing to do with mysticism. Asia is mystic. The Russians are mystic. It is a rare asset for a European nation. Mysticism is a way of life that produces results without knowing how. When the inner soul is developed enough to produce the intended result and the mind not developed enough to know the process, it is seen as mysticism.
The intellectual French have ingenuity. To them, the individual matters, the principle is of significance. A Britisher seeing a French mother asking her three year old boy to be reasonable, remarked that in her place an English mother would ask the child to be a good boy. Reason is essential for the French. They love work and are proud of doing the work for the joy of work, as they find fulfilment in work. The Englishman is a gentleman. He will go to any length to put up a very good behaviour of a gentleman because he lives for that ideal. The American is dynamic. The Latins, people of the Mediterranean, are realists. It is they who invaded the whole of South America and even now rule there. The mildness of the Hindu, the mysticism of the Russian, the discipline of the German, the ingenuity of the French, the realism of the Latin, the tenacity of the British and the dynamism of the American are spiritual traits. A nation will become pre-eminent and fulfil its destiny if she lives by what is spiritual in her and endeavours to bring it out in life.