Where Man Ends, the Divine Begins
The soul SAW its woes had disappeared when it forgot them and was wondering what it
was all about. God laughed at the naiveté of the soul. So says Sri Aurobindo in
one of His Aphorisms. The spiritual truth is man energises his misery by dwelling on it.
Can this spiritual truth be of any use to us in our daily life? Though such occurrences
are not in abundance, they are not uncommon. Often a man recovers from an incurable
illness, especially when the doctor gives up. It is striking at the moment but our mental
comprehension does not go beyond expressing a sense of wonder. No serious mental
attempt is made to discover how it happened. To us, our minds are final. We never
consider the Spirit in us.
A lawyer was driving his newly purchased car on the banks of the river Krishna. The
car slipped into the current of the river. Somehow he managed to open the door of the car,
swim to the shore and fell down fainting. After a day or two he regained consciousness.
Those around were all appreciation for his extraordinary courage and were anxious to know
how he had done that feat. To their questions, he only replied, "I do not know
anything. I remember falling into the river sitting in my car. The next thing I know is
just now that I am here in the hospital." What happened was the body the
Spirit in the body awakens the moment it finds it can no longer rely on the
mind to protect itself and releases Herculean energy, exhibits superhuman intelligence and
saves itself.
This is one expression of the Spirit, the Divine, sailing into action when man
comes to the tether ends of his resources. As this is a spiritual phenomenon, we can
devise ways and means for our insoluble problems to be solved by the inner Divine taking
over. The principle underlying the method
is man should voluntarily give up exercising his mind to solve an insoluble problem.
A government officer had been regularly visiting Pondicherry on every February 21st
to attend a spiritual function most sacred to his faith. In the same tradition birthdays
are the most receptive days in one's life. It is believed the soul is born anew at a
higher level on that day. About thirty years ago bus services were not as organised as
they are today. For this man to be here on February 21st, he needed to take three days
leave from his office. It was quite an issue for a gazetted officer in a government
office, especially when his own immediate boss was in the same office. He was religiously
visiting Pondicherry on February 21st every year.
His birthday fell on February 19th. Should he be in Pondicherry on February 19th
too, he needed five days leave of absence, something inconceivable. Not knowing his own
personal circumstances in the office or the distance he had to travel, someone raised the
topic of his visiting Pondy on his birthday. He dismissed the suggestion out of hand. By
the end of March, something unusual happened to him. He a permanent gazetted
officer was ousted from his post, a thing the department never experienced. After
110 days, he was reinstated. During this period he thought of visiting Pondicherry on his
birthday the following year. His mental resources were at an end. At Pondicherry he
met the man who had raised that issue and who spoke his mind to the officer. He said,
"I do see the impossibility of visiting here on Feb. 19th and 21st. Surely it is
impossible to the mind, but not to the Spirit. Don't you know the formula, 'the
Divine begins where man ends'? It is a never failing spiritual rule." The officer could accept the idea. Each time his
mind raised a question, he succeeded in putting it off. Silence was there. He became quiet In February elections came and all the 110
gazetted officers of his institution were drafted. Holidays were declared. He was NOT drafted mysteriously! He came to
Pondicherry for his birthday and stayed on for February 21st. Since then, year after
year, he came for Feb. 19 and 21st.
Life is replete with events that express this phenomenon. Only that we do not
understand it in this light. We rarely think this is a method to solve our problems. When
a problem presents, it is customary for us to exercise our minds as well as our efforts to
the full. It is good to work to achieve a result. It is better NOT to exercise
ourselves. Not only do we not think along those lines, but it is hard for most of us
to accept it as a valid method of functioning.
Ordinarily we try our best and if it succeeds, we congratulate ourselves and
reinforce our confidence in our capacity. There are occasions when we fail and see no
further avenue to pursue our efforts. We give up. In a very short time news comes that our
work succeeded, though all our efforts failed. This is not common, but does occur.
o
We can see that the
work is accomplished not by our efforts, but in spite of them.
o
We see it is
fulfilled by a method unknown to us or unthought of.
o
Usually such
fulfilment brings us a greater result.
It is true exercising oneself is a good method and a right method. It is true only
when we learn the work and only until we fully learn it. Having learnt it, the mind's
insistence should be withdrawn, letting the work take its own course. Exercising oneself
then is a bar. Man can give up a work as impossible whereby he follows the above rule
negatively.
One who launched a sizeable project successfully, having worked for it for eight
full years, was happy about his success. As the project was big enough, he knew that was
his last effort. He came to know of this principle at that time. He switched his mind to
the poise of this new understanding. A project twice its size came to him by itself. He
now wished NOT to begin. It got completed in
seventy days as if the project was moving on its own impulsion.