Enough of the mind¹

There was a great scientist named Dr. Satyendranath Bose. His was a truly immortal name in the scientific world, not only in India but also in various other countries as well. Some people are great, but they may not have enough goodness. In his case, however, he was not only great but also extremely good, kind and humble. His heart was the heart of a little child. He had a special fondness for children and used to play many games with them. One game that he liked particularly and used to play with them quite often was Karam. He himself was a fine player and, though he had distinguished himself as an eminent scientist, he used to enjoy playing with the children and they, for their part, accepted him as their hero.

Once he happened to be playing Karam with some children, and he was deeply absorbed in the game. A middle-aged man came by and for a long time was watching the game. After some time the scientist said to him, “What can I do for you?” The man replied, “I will be so grateful if you will preside over a meeting we are holding at our school. Tomorrow there will be a special meeting at our school, and I will be so grateful if you can be there to preside.”

Very politely the scientist responded, “No, I cannot. I am sorry. Please find somebody else.”

But again the visitor urged, “Oh, we need you badly. There is nobody as great as you are. We shall be deeply honoured if you come and preside over the meeting.”

With utmost politeness the scientist repeated, “I cannot come tomorrow at that hour because I am supposed to play with my friends here. Nothing gives me greater joy than to play with children. I have presided over hundreds and hundreds of meetings, and there I don’t get any joy.

“I want joy, you want joy, everybody wants joy. To me, this Karam is infinitely more meaningful than the opportunity you are giving me to preside over a meeting, for I know that intellectual people and argumentative people will come to that meeting, and they will bring their reasoning minds. I am fed up with the reasoning mind. I want only the heart, the sincere and pure heart, the oneness-heart. I get that kind of heart here, with my little friends.

“I have promised them that tomorrow I shall play with them, and I shall definitely do it. I only want to remain in the heart. I have played my role in the mind and now I am playing the role of my heart. Satisfaction is there, only there. Peace is there, only there.”