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20. To Accept Mother in Life

 

In life we act according to what we like and avoid what we dislike. We choose our friends, our food, our job, etc. We take care to avoid certain people or certain foods. Some jobs are anathema to us. This is the basis for man to succeed in life. When you have people around you whom you like or when you do a job of your choice, you naturally meet with success. If for any reason a job irks you, you constantly look for an opportunity to get out of it. This is normal human life at all levels. When Rajiv Gandhi was invited to politics with a promise of future Prime Ministership, he said he would rather be a pilot. That is the force of liking. It is right in life.

 Should a man say that he would like to accept Mother in life, he would be touched at this point and, only if he is willing to change this attitude, can he think of Mother. Mother's attitude is to rise above likes and dislikes, relate to work, do not express your personality but express your duty, do it without expecting results, do it without any attachment to the work itself. This is high sounding and seems idealistic. Our first response is to shun it at all costs. But this is a truth of life. At home, at the office, with relatives, friends, at a function in public, we do exhibit this ideal so as to be approved of in the society. "Here is an order to pay money to flood-affected people. Several others have come. I feel guilty in throwing away government money. But it is not for me to question. I am here to execute orders. Let me do it."  This is what one in government service does.

 If we look at the level of life we have risen to, at this level we will be following the above ideal at several points, in several ways. All men who continuously rise in life can be seen putting away their personal preference for one reason or another and relating to work on hand. That is the way of progress. Mother says it is good one makes several individual adjustments but it is better one gets that ATTITUDE permanently. To acquire that attitude forever is to accept Mother in life. To begin with, this attitude is essential in Mother's way of life, which culminates in the final ideal of "No Reaction". Man's life itself is a reaction to the environment. For him to reach an ideal of no reaction is a very high goal. Mother says reaction comes from the ego. Mother's yoga stipulates the abolition of ego. Hence her ideal of no reaction. Taken in the best of spirits, this is a great opportunity for progress. What is very difficult for man becomes less difficult and possible, if he invokes the help of Mother. Should one try for a life of no reaction, he will soon discover how enjoyable and powerful life is.

 Normal human responses are expectation, greed, irritation, vindictiveness, jealousy, etc. If these get fulfilled, the pleasure one derives out of them is sharp, not wholesome. Certainly it is far more satisfying and pleasant to genuinely feel happy at a colleague's promotion and congratulate him, instead of feeling jealous about his advancement. It makes you feel good and that is a way of progress too.

 Man anticipates the results of his present work and starts building on them. That is one reason for disappointment and frustration. To do the work and concentrate on it and think less and less about the result is a good attitude. Whatever discipline you follow, whether it is the right attitude, no reaction, feeling happy about another or not thinking of results, LIFE will cross the limits of our patience. If we succeed in one discipline at one level, life, as if it is consciously testing our endurance, will present a stronger occasion. If you manage to keep your cool at the provocation of your being bypassed in your office in the matter of allotting work, life will present you another opportunity where your promotion will be bypassed. The patience you managed to exhibit in the previous case will give way now. Even if you succeed here, another opportunity more difficult will come to break your endurance. Life is bent upon testing us and we should pass that test at all costs. Only with that attitude can we succeed in an effort like this.

 It is easy to keep patient when someone wrongfully prods you, but when your right actions are twisted and motives attributed, it is not so easy to keep quiet without reacting.

 You may pass that also. Yet there is one more test. You have loved a person as a good friend for a long time. He feels now there is an opportunity for him to serve a rich man and earn his good will, if he initiates an act of gross betrayal of your interest. Not many can stand that situation. A few may pass that test too. Added to that, he calls into question your otherwise spotless integrity to justify his own betrayal. Not to react here is not given to anyone who does not base his faith in the Divine. If one outwardly succeeds in this, still the inner reaction is not easy to abolish. Mother says that in such a situation one has to love the man who betrays you. Surely you cannot love his betrayal of your interest. Mother says love in him the Divinity, in spite of his betrayal. To find that love inside oneself is a sure way of accepting Mother in life. However intimidated you feel in such a situation, if you accept the ideal and call in Mother's support, She makes it possible to emerge unscathed. Also She gives you no further occasion in life of that description.

 We cannot compare ourselves here with others, because not many people are following these ideals. We can constantly compare ourselves with the ideals we have set for ourselves.

 If this ideal is too high and one feels he cannot attempt it, he can make a small but significant beginning that will lead to the goal in time. 

  1. As a first step, it must be possible to drop jealousy, hatred, offensiveness, selfishness, etc. One can make a full-throated effort, at least, with one of them.
  2. As a second step, try to take another man's point of view, train yourself to listen, be pleasant and try any such attitude.
  3. At the physical level of action, punctuality, orderliness, regularity, etc. will help the efforts above.
  4. At a higher level act on faith.

 If you are not able to follow any of these with full significance, at least start following the external physical versions of them in behaviour

 



book | by Dr. Radut