Hopeless Case

Report No.: Y18

July 6, 1978

An official who is corrupt may have strong vibrations of fear invading him each time he receives bribes. Suppose this man wants to get rid of fear fully, the first thing he should do is to give up his corrupt behaviour. Human nature does not work in straight lines of pure logic. We shall consider the situation where the man has a sincere wish to give up corruption but not matching sincere will. He is caught alternately in the waves of the strong wish and weak will. This is a pathetic case but not utterly hopeless. The presence of his sincere wish to wean himself away from corruption is the only hope. He will find himself irresistibly seeking bribes in the old way in spite of a ‘strong' resolution the day before or hour before. He will see himself unconsciously or consciously destroying his earlier wish. Because it was only a wish and not a decision it has no strength. As the wish is there, after the completion of the act, after receiving the money, the recognition or regret will come. In some cases, a slightly better one, one can bring himself to reverse the act by returning the bribe. But most cases of this category he will say to himself "Never again". This lasts only till the next occasion presents. The cycle repeats. A very precarious case like a student who has secured 8% of the total marks in the university exams in the 4^th attempt after spending all his time in studies. Even from this lone dot of light, it is not impossible to bring about a conversion in the man. The first thing the man will ask is "Please do it". It is not to be done by another, even the Divine. He must do it himself.

After the lapse if he offers to Mother his wish, his weak will, his lapse, his capacity for lapsing and during that moment he discerns NO desire for the next lapse, the man has hopes. This prayer works in two ways. If the man is capable of giving up the corrupt habits straightaway, LIFE keeps away all such occasions and presents him a clean field of activity. If the man takes this opportunity, turns over a new leaf, he emerges victorious. Now if he again takes a conscious initiative to seek bribes which Mother has kept away from him, the cycle comes to its origin. He has to begin again. If the man's consciousness is below corruption, i.e. he is one who can grow through stages of corruption, Mother brings him better clients who offer greater bribes. Till that stage is over, he passes through this phenomenon and the stage of Mother offering the clean field follows.

Even when man accepts the clean field and acts in good faith, if his nature is not ripe, an initiative from inside or outside comes to break his clean behaviour and he passes through another cycle of fall. If the man during this period keeps his wish somewhere in the background, undying, though ineffective - if he is sincere enough to do that - at the end of the cycle of the fall, he would find his wish emerging a little stronger. Instead of just keeping one's memory in touch with this weak will, the man calls MOTHER from there a very swift movement will initiate and do miracles. A bright sun will dawn; but not the clear strength. Clear strength comes from will. Man has to develop it. It does not matter how many times he lapses. It does not matter he is lower than dirt. It does not matter he is will-less. IF during any moment he can find in himself the wish to move to MOTHER and IF he can go back to that WISH however feeble it is, he is not hopeless. In MOTHER'S kingdom the persistence of this weak man will once be rewarded in full.

The above description is pathetic and appears utterly hopeless as in social life the corrupt man is loathsome. Whoever wants to offer any sympathy to him?

In matters of spiritual discipline, each man finds himself in the same predicament with respect to a certain endeavour. The type of effort is the same. Relatively the sadhak's position is the same. To arrive at a stable concentration in the heart years of effort will reward with nil result. Many who vow on total consecration in the first occasion need to be reminded in the second occasion that they vowed seriously earlier. Aspiration comes into one's life as a gift from past purity. Should a man not have it now and he prays for it in this life, he will be in the same position of the corrupt official for years or even decades. That is why we speak of Mother's Grace when aspiration shows itself in such a one for a few minutes. SHE gives it. In the centers of Mother's consciousness, Aspiration abides, Silence prevails, calm descends. It is all purely HER Grace, and ONLY HER GRACE.

I have dealt with a good many sincere people seriously endeavouring towards sadhana. Almost I have found everyone in the same total helplessness as described in the corrupt official. One who has taken to Mother for over a decade felt helpless to give up lying because he is one who, if he speaks the truth, will die. After a prolonged sustained effort he discovered that he could speak Truth only when it is convenient to him. Once by mistake a report resembling truth escaped from his mouth. He felt, he said, as if he has swallowed poison. That semblance of truth is poison to his consciousness.

Uncontrollable desire for a pen, a towel, a tape-recorder in a person who had dedicated his whole life upto advanced years, has tortured him as the lure of bribe to the official. After long years of discipline, he has come to reconcile to the fact and started saying as he is doing service to the divine, these are no desires but tools in her service!

Concentration, consecration, faith, aspiration, etc. spiritual faculties we should develop, if he has to start a fresh without having acquired in the previous birth, the effort will be more or less on the same line. Grace alone is the exception. Grace constantly gives.

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Those who seek to shed long ingrained emotional, mental, physical habits will be in such a predicament. The type of helplessness is the same. But, being physical habits, in the wider sadhana they can be shed much more easily than others. For one who relies on Mother shedding physical habits is much easier than the one in life shedding corrupt habits or for one in sadhana acquiring a spiritual faculty. Sadhana is a higher plane. Physical habits are weak in this plane. If the same person is in life and tries to shed physical habits as part of life discipline it will be much harder, rather impossible. Having come to Mother, having offered one's life to yoga, trying to shed physical habits will have greater support from one's own being.