eldest boy was going to be sent away to a rich relative’s
house for part of the year. It was the implied
kind intention of trying to relieve her of her trouble
that gave her the shock, for a mother’s trouble
is a mother’s own by her inalienable right of
love, and she was not going to surrender it to any
dictates of expediency. Man’s freedom
is never in being saved troubles, but it is the freedom
to take trouble for his own good, to make the trouble
an element in his joy. It can be made so only
when we realise that our individual self is not the
highest meaning of our being, that in us we have the
world-man who is immortal, who is not afraid of death
or sufferings, and who looks upon pain as only the
other side of joy. He who has realised this knows
that it is pain which is our true wealth as imperfect
beings, and has made us great and worthy to take our
seat with the perfect. He knows that we are
not beggars; that it is the hard coin which must be
paid for everything valuable in this life, for our
power, our wisdom, our love; that in pain is symbolised
the infinite possibility of perfection, the eternal
unfolding of joy; and the man who loses all pleasure
in accepting pain sinks down and down to the lowest
depth of penury and degradation. It is only
when we invoke the aid of pain for our self-gratification
that she becomes evil and takes her vengeance for
the insult done to her by hurling us into misery.
For she is the vestal virgin consecrated to the service
of the immortal perfection, and when she takes her
true place before the altar of the infinite she casts
off her dark veil and bares her face to the beholder
as a revelation of supreme joy.
IV
THE PROBLEM OF SELF
At one pole of my being I am one with stocks and stones.
There I have to acknowledge the rule of universal
law. That is where the foundation of my existence
lies, deep down below. Its strength lies in
its being held firm in the clasp of comprehensive world,
and in the fullness of its community with all things.
But at the other pole of my being I am separate from
all. There I have broken through the cordon
of equality and stand alone as an individual.
I am absolutely unique, I am I, I am incomparable.
The whole weight of the universe cannot crush out
this individuality of mine. I maintain it in
spite of the tremendous gravitation of all things.
It is small in appearance but great in reality.
For it holds its own against the forces that would
rob it of its distinction and make it one with the
dust.
Copyrights
Sadhana : the realisation of life from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
