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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF SRI AUROBINDO AND THE MOTHER

37. EYESIGHT

A good friend and a longtime devotee who is an agriculturist was waiting for me since morning outside my room, while I was engaged in a serious discussion with some Aurovillians. I had not known that my friend was waiting outside. I felt sorry and somewhat outraged that he should wait for me without informing me, as this was a meeting which would be prolonged for hours. Immediately I excused myself from the meeting and went outside to see my friend. I planned to be severe with him for not informing me and had a prepared sentence to deliver, "Why should you not come in and join the meeting?" On seeing him, I understood why he could not come in and join as usual. He was with two other people. One of them had come requesting a blessing packet from the Ashram, as he was going for an eye operation. He was a college student and a relative of my agriculturalist friend. I promised them to secure a blessing packet and asked all of them to meet me later. I had different ideas on his proposed operation than he had.

Later my friend and the student met me at the appointed time, and I gave them the blessing packet I had secured from the Ashram in the meantime. The student was not a devotee in the full sense of the word, but had accompanied my friend, who was his cousin, several times to the Ashram, Mother's Darshan, etc. as his native village was very near Pondicherry. He often visited my agriculturist friend as part of family work. As soon as I delivered the blessing packet, both were visibly pleased and were about to leave. Perhaps they were in a hurry or some other people were waiting for them elsewhere. On my enquiry they explained that neither was the case, but they were anxious to go to the Samadhi now that they had received the blessing packet.

Knowing their mind, I persuaded them to wait and explain to me the history of the eye disorder and gently hinted that the operation might not be necessary. My hint electrified them and they lost their hurry. The boy narrated, "From my early childhood I had no sight in one eye, but no second person could discern any defect in the formation of the eye. Over the years we went to several doctors. Each time I was advised to undergo an operation. Neither my family nor I approved of the idea of operation. Thus, it was going on ever since I was a child. I had never lost the hope of having my eye cured without an operation sometime or other. With that in mind, whenever I went to another town or heard of an expert eye doctor, I would contact him. Again and again I got the reply that it should be operated upon. Now that I am in this college and the volume of study causes strain to the sight, finally my parents advised me to have the operation. They took me to Madras, had me examined by an eye surgeon, fixed a date for the operation, and made arrangements to move to Madras for ten days. That was why I requested uncle to secure a blessing packet for me. I am very happy I have gotten one. Uncle tells me a lot about Mother and the power of the blessing packet. I have heard him narrate so many events to so many people about all this, but I do not fully understand it all. I too believe in Mother and have faith that Mother will bless me to have my operation successfully and restore my sight."

As soon as he finished, I clearly saw that his faith was pure, though simple-minded. It was obvious that my hint of avoiding the operation was of great interest to him, but his faith could not match it. As his explanation showed, his faith was there in Mother that She would help the operation to be successful. So I spoke as follows: "I see you have faith, but what the doctors have told you over the years has a strong hold on your mind. As your operation is not something urgently called for, I wish that you speak to your parents to have the operation postponed by a couple of weeks and try Mother's method. I will be happy if you agree to my suggestion and your parents endorse it, unmindful of the appointment fixed and arrangements made. Mother has a place here called "School of Perfect Eyesight". It is run by a devotee who is a famous doctor. He has borrowed some ideas from a New York doctor and developed a new method of curing illnesses of the eye. He bases himself on Mother's Force more than on his method. Please go to the school and let us know what they feel about your eye condition. Let us try and see. If anything cures you, it will be Mother's Force."

They both seemed happy. I could see in their faces some ray of hope that the operation can be avoided. On their part, both agreed to try, but had to consult the elders in the family. They returned after a few days to announce that their family consented, and they proceeded to the eye school. Later in the evening when they returned, they reported that the school had given them confidence and prescribed eye exercises for thirty days. The school asked the patient to stay in Pondicherry for the first seven days and said that if he learnt the exercises well, he could go home and practice. They ended saying that the school too emphasized that Mother's Force alone cured.

I could see that they were really satisfied, but the very routine fashion in which the twenty year old problem was handled somewhat mystified them. Fortunately, it had not shaken their faith.

My friend, who used to meet me often, was regularly reporting improvement by the treatment. After a week the boy felt a marked improvement. His confidence grew. He continued the exercises. Full eyesight was restored within one or two months.

My friend brought the boy to me when all was over. His face was full, his eyes were gleaming. After my friend finished speaking, I turned to the boy to listen to him. He looked at me with a full face and a dumb mouth. I could see his heart was too full for him to speak.

38. CALLING THE MOTHER AND HER RESPONSE

Mother often used to stop Her work and concentrate for a second. This She would do during her writing, eating, interviews and any other work. She once explained that often Her children (devotees) 'call' her for help, to which she responds by sending Her force. One night at 1 a.m. She heard someone calling her frantically and she concentrated, then sent her force and 'saw' who it was. It was a man getting up from his bed, going to the door, leaning on it and calling her intensely. It was not clear to her who it was. The next morning news came. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Prime Minister, had passed away in Tashkent. Shastri had been in correspondence with her and before going to Tashkent meeting he had asked for Mother's Blessings for the meeting. He was devoted to her and it was his dying call that She had heard at night.

When devotees call, Mother gives two kinds of responses. One goes out of her wider personality without her knowing. The other emanates from her individuality. For those who are personally known to her and intensely call, Her individuality responds with her knowledge.

A boy of five years got a broken porcelain piece stuck in his throat and was choking. The family became panicky and a turmoil issued. Luckily the father was at home at that moment. As good luck would have it, there was an ENT specialist down the street. As the child weighed more than what the father could easily carry on his shoulder up to the specialist's hospital and no time could be lost looking for a rickshaw, in his fright he tried to lift the child, holding him around the waist, and rushed out of the house. The child was hanging precariously, with the father's arm around his stomach, and was bent over. The father's one thought was that the doctor must be in and give immediate attention. It would be a great thing if the doctor was able to recover the obnoxious porcelain piece by some instrument that could reach down into the throat. Otherwise, an operation would be necessary. How long would it take? How much suffering was in store for the boy and on his account for the parents? These things haunted the father's mind. He was an ardent devotee. In his hour of trial, he deeply prayed to Mother to extend Her blessings to the suffering child. His mind refused to wean itself away from the possible consequences of availability of the doctor, instrument, operation, etc. and fix itself on the prayer. Being a devotee, one part of his mind said that after all if any help comes, it should come only from Mother with the doctor only as an instrument, and therefore it is best to pray to Mother. But the human part in him refused to be under control. In this dilemma, suddenly he thought of the power of calling 'Mother' and began to call Her intensely. Soon his wandering mind came under control and he was able to call Mother from his mind. In half a minute the call began to shift from his mind to the heart. Within seconds he noticed that he was not calling anymore. Something from inside took up the call. A smooth, sweet vibration of calling began welling up from inside his heart dissolving his panic, fright, helplessness and suffering at the thought of the child's plight. Already the father had crossed two thirds of the road and was only yards away from the hospital entrance. The child who was precariously hanging from his father's arm began to wriggle and shouted, "Appa, it has fallen." The malicious porcelain piece was rolling on the road before the unbelieving eyes of the devotee. Mother usually answers through the help of the doctor; but in this case Mother's help came before reaching the doctor.

39. EMPLOYMENT

"I am happy to inform you that I have gotten the appointment, after I met with a great disappointment when the list was published with my name missing. I don't know what happened after the publication of the list and how I have been awarded the post. Anyway, one thing is sure. This job does not come to me by the strength of my thirty years of service nor by all the influential contacts that tried on my behalf. Nor does it come by any desert of mind. It comes to me purely by Mother's Grace and I accept it as such," wrote a distinguished educationist of Tamil Nadu, when he was appointed professor emeritus after all his efforts had proven in vain and he had given up.

Mother constantly performs miracles in the life and faith of devotees without making them seem like miracles. "My gazetted government job is a fairly well-placed one and gives me Rs.650 a month in all (in 1969); but I know I have greater talents which if well-employed can give me Rs.1,000 in private industry. I was itching to get into a better job and intently prayed to Mother for a long time. I finally gave up seeking another job than this one. The very next day when I was on tour, an officer spoke to me of a public sector company needing the services of someone like me. While he was speaking, the man who gave that news walked in and was introduced. He said his establishment had interviewed 80 highly qualified persons and rejected all of them, as they did not have the one particular qualification they needed. I possessed it. I dashed to the company, where I had a warm welcome. After the whole interview was over, they expressed full satisfaction and asked me to choose my salary. I asked for Rs. 2,000 and they readily agreed," said a highly qualified scientist devotee of the Mother.

Mother gives whatever we ask for and often more. In 1982 a mother commented, "My son secured M.A., M.Ed, and is now doing M.Sc. He would rather take up a job than acquire a degree. These are hard days and life is full of cut-throat competition. Even those well-wishers who genuinely want to help the boy secure a job find it difficult. Finally I fixed my central reliance on Mother and did whatever we could to get him a job. Life turned around and every unhelpful situation slightly altered. All the people who had been giving an empty promise sounded sympathetic. On our part we shifted our reliance slowly from men and matters to Mother. At last, the boy got a good job, and the pay is over Rs. 1,000. In the circle of our relations and friends this is great news. We are unable to answer this question they ask: 'Who got you this post?' Not only for them, but for us also, it is a standing wonder."

A young engineer, after five years of service, rose to a position of earning Rs. 1,600 in a private company in 1974. He was ambitious and applied for a Chief Engineer's position in Goa carrying a salary of Rs. 3,000. Though he was qualified and talented, his experience for the post was too short. Before going for the interview, he came to me for Mother's Blessing packet. I got him one. He was not satisfied and wanted me to pronounce the outcome of his interview the following month! Obviously, I could not. He was insistent. Thereupon, I spoke generally of some practices connected with employment as follows: "You are young and this is a senior post. Of course, they have called you for the interview because you are fully qualified and talented. What Mother would do I can't say. I can say that whatever happens will be very good for you." He wanted me to be more explicit and asked whether he could do anything special, such as repeating a mantra or making a big offering in order to secure the job. I explained that though an offering is essential, a token is enough. If one wants to give more to Mother, it is to serve Her and Her cause. It is not necessary as an offering. Long-standing devotees whose children take up fresh jobs offer Mother the first month's salary," I added and left it at that. He appeared for the interview. Two weeks later he wrote to me that they had not selected him for the position, but added that he received by the same post an appointment order from another company for the job of Chief Engineer at a salary of Rs. 2,600.

I told all of this to a young man whose father brought him to me when he was seeking a job. This young man was an apprentice under an auditor. He didn't like it because there was not much scope to learn accounting under that auditor, as he was located in a small town and had small traders as clients. The boy's family had a lot of landed property, houses, a trade, etc. and he was seeking a job as he needed a career. In the early 70s when jobs had become scarce, I could not give him any idea or help in the matter. However, I said that if he had faith in Mother and related to Her or Her work in some token fashion, it would do him good. As he was not living in Pondicherry I could not easily suggest any service to Mother or to the Ashram. After some hard thinking, I asked him if he would come forward to sell some copies of a Tamil journal of the Ashram which was being published at that time. When he readily agreed, I made myself bold and said he would secure a job, if he could sell ten copies of it.

The young man went about ardently selling the journal and soon found out that not many people were interested in spirituality. But he was persistent and maintained his efforts. In the meantime, he was surprised to be called for interviews from many places, whereas up until then he had not been called. One interview was for an accountant's post in the Food Corporation. He appeared for the interview, did well and returned very satisfied. He was selected for the job and posted in the same town! He was touched and moved by Mother's Grace and Love, and exclaimed that he had till then sold only three copies of the journal. His enthusiasm did not flag; rather, it increased. One day he declared he was going to sell copies of the journal by going house to house. He sold and sold, up to 100 subscriptions and went beyond that too.

Mother's ways are many. One can never anticipate. The son of a Tahsildar was frequently visiting me ever since he completed B.A. in 1970. He continued and took his M.A. degree. He used to come to Darshans. One day he came asking me to get him a job. I asked him to accompany me to the Samadhi, which he did. I told him he could try for any job and he would get it.

After a month he came to announce that he got a Lecturer's job. He explained that they had advertised for one post. Several people appeared and a Ph.D. holder was selected. Impressed by the boy's performance in the interview, the interviewing professor recommended a temporary post could be created and he be selected!

40. THE GRACE THAT ALWAYS HELPS

About fifteen years ago I was seriously engaged in agriculture. Coconut and cashew were my chief crops. My coconut garden was near the seashore. The backwaters formed the borders of my garden on all sides, except to the West. People used to buy coconut husks in the backwaters and let them soak for four to five months. Then they would draw fibers out of them and make ropes. If such soaked-up husks are beaten with a stick, the non-fibrous parts fall down as powder on the ground and make good manure. Such manure helps keep the moisture in the soil.

The distance between the rope-making units and my garden was three miles. I used to bring the coconut husks to my garden by bullock carts and lorries. Neither the lorry nor the cart could come into my garden as the backwaters formed a barrier. Therefore, the husks had to be brought into my garden only by head load for a distance of two furlongs. A few years passed in this fashion. Then some coir workers told me that right in my garden itself they could convert the husks into fibers and make ropes. They also told me that this was a very profitable industry. I had a few husks soaked and extracted the fibers to practically verify their proposition. It proved to be true. I thought this was a very good way to get a lot of manure.

One had to buy the husks from coconut merchants. The husks were in great demand, as the industry was very profitable. It was the custom to pay the coconut merchants as advance the price of a year's supply of husks. I decided to start this industry with an advance payment of Rs. 7,000. I approached the biggest coconut merchant in the town and shared my thoughts with him. He took my Rs. 7,000 as advance and gave me a promissory note. He agreed to supply coconut husks and said he had taken an advance of Rs. 7000 from the co-operative society.

That year it did not rain well. If it does not rain well for a year, the next year the coconut harvest gets reduced to a quarter of its size. Therefore, that coconut merchant could not sell enough husks to earn the money due to the co-operative society. The next year also it did not rain well. It became plain that the merchant could not supply the husks I needed. So I went and spoke to him. He said to me, "You know the nature of the coconut business. There is nothing anybody can do."

In the meanwhile I had arranged bank loan facilities for the villagers of Ramapuram and had started planting banana, jasmine and Crossandra flowers in the estates there. That kept me busy, so I had no time to visit my coconut garden. Hence, I decided to give up my coir business and spoke about it to the merchant. He also agreed and promised to return the advance.

He was a big merchant with houses and lands as assets. His properties were easily worth two lakhs. He also had a money-lending shop. As such, there was no difficulty for him to repay my advance. Naturally, I expected to get it back soon. However, the state of affairs was different. The response of the merchant was not convincing. It seemed as if he was not willing to give the money back. He delayed for six months. Then I personally went to his house and met him. Though he spoke politely, there seemed to be no truth in his words. He said his father-in-law had planted ten acres of sugar cane and he hoped to repay me through that cane harvest. Those cane fields were in Pondicherry and, he said, he would have to get my money from the Pondy sugar mill.

I felt a little confident, as I knew the owner of that sugar mill. I asked the merchant to give me a letter asking the mill owner to give me Rs. 7,000 of the money due to him from the cane harvest. I thought I could get the money in this way. The merchant hesitated and refused to give me the letter. He said he would anyhow give the money from the cane harvest.

I enquired about the man from people who knew him well. They all told me, "You can forget your money. That man has earned all his money only in this way. Why did you give your money to him?"

Though I had his promissory note with me, going to the court was not appealing. I had decided to get the money without going to court. Then an acquaintance of his came and met me. He said, "You can go to court, but even then you won't get your money back. Before you take action please note the pros and cons of this problem." What he said stirred my thinking seriously. I thought of all the advice I had given to friends in a similar situation and followed them myself. But nothing seemed to work.

I prayed to Mother to help me get my money back. My prayer was heart-felt and I felt free from worry. It seemed like there was no serious problem. Though all signs were positive, the merchant still kept giving negative replies.

A few more months passed. The problem did not get solved. If another few more months passed, the promissory note would become invalid. I had to take some action before that. I started thinking seriously. Soon a friend came and sat by me. He asked me what my problem was and I shared my feelings with him. He listened and kept quiet. I thought of asking for his views on this matter. I told him, "You know that prayers to Mother get answered quickly. But, with respect to this merchant, it has failed. What do you think can be wrong from my side? I don't think there is anything wrong." He said, "You are wrong in having given him the money." I said, "Everybody gives him advance. He is a propertied man who has given me a promissory note. What can be wrong?" His reply was, "This won't work for us, it will work for other merchants only." When he said that, a simple thing which I had been unaware of suddenly dawned on me.

If I get a promissory note from people who are at my level, it will be honoured. If the merchant gives promissory notes to others at his level, they will also be honoured. As I did not have the resources to enforce his payment, I realised that what I had done was fundamentally wrong. With that realisation, I felt unburdened in my feelings. The problem seemed to be solved and a prayer seemed unnecessary. The first time I relied on my positive feelings, but it did not work. Why rely on them a second time. However, I placed my hopes on my positive feelings and decided to meet the merchant the next morning.

The next morning I left in my car for the estate in Ramapuram. On the way back I stopped to meet the merchant. My driver showed me a coconut garden and said, "The man dressed in a white shirt is the merchant."

I proceeded towards the garden and on seeing me, the merchant also began walking towards me. We met halfway and unusually he looked cheerful and spoke pleasantly. I opened the topic of money. He said, "The harvest is over. My men are threshing the paddy. I will give you the money this evening." I did not believe him and even thought of sending a worker to the paddy-threshing place. He asked if I did not believe him and took a paper out of his pocket. He showed me the paper and said, "Look, this is a list of all the people I am going to give money to this evening. Please see the top of the list." I saw that my name was on the top of the list with a figure of Rs. 7,000. He said he could not give the interest then and promised to give it to me at the next harvest. I expressed my wish to have my due in the form of paddy. He agreed. Accordingly, I sent my men and had Rs. 7,000 worth of paddy bags brought to my house. Just as he had promised, he paid the interest at the time of the next harvest.

If one is active, interested, and responsible and functions by basing himself on Mother, there is no need to pray. The Mother will help execute our tasks with ease. If obstacles arise, then prayer will move things. If things do not move, then it can only mean that something is wrong with our feelings, acts or way of life. If we find out that fault and feel sorry, then as usual the problems get solved.

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