Depend on Grace

I had many mentors at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. One was my dearest and most affectionate mentor. Before he joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, he had another Guru. His brother was a year younger, but they studied together in the same class. They were getting their bachelor’s degrees, and both of them became disciples of a particular Master.

My mentor happened to be the main server of his Master. He was all the time with the Master, serving the Master very faithfully and devotedly. His brother worked at the Master’s ashram only for a very short time, and the rest of the time he was studying, studying and studying.

My mentor said to his Master, “I do not have to study. I want to get joy only by serving you. If I can serve you devotedly, who cares whether I pass or not? I will be happy.”

The Master said, “Who cares? I care! I want you to do well in your studies.”

Then the disciple said, “How am I going to do that? Here I get joy by serving you day in and day out. My brother is studying all the time. Please tell me what to do.”

The Master said, “Do what you are doing. You serve me, and let your brother study. Let us see what happens.”

This brother studied a maximum of only an hour or two a day. The other one used to study seven to eight hours a day. Alas, the younger one studied so much that he became confused. He studied too much! The one who studied very little and served the Master got the highest mark, but the one who studied and studied passed the examination only with greatest difficulty.

The Master said to the older brother, “If you serve me, do you think I will remain ungrateful to you? You are serving me so devotedly. I must do you a big favour! You depended on my grace, whereas your brother depended on his capacity, on his talents. If you depend on grace, then you are bound to succeed all the time.”

That is how this brother did very well in his examination. After his Master passed away, his fellow disciples all wanted him to be head of that ashram because he was the dearest, closest and most responsible one. But he said, “No, no, no, I do not want that.”

After some time he came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and joined Sri Aurobindo’s path. Alas, he was absolutely sure that I was his former Master! I was six or eight months old when his Master passed on, so was it not an absurd notion? I was already born at the time of his Master’s passing! But he would not believe it. He said, “No, the soul can do anything! Definitely you were my Master. I can feel it, I can see it in your movements, in your face. You were my Master!”

Everybody laughed at him, but he did not care. He said, “The soul can do anything it wants to do.”

His former Master wrote one book in Bengali. I have written many books, but I have not yet printed even one book in Bengali! He gave me a copy of that book to read. To my great astonishment, while I was reading the book, each page, almost each line, I felt that I had written!

Everything is possible in the soul’s world. When I tell many stories about the soul, some of you take them with a grain of salt, and some with a billion grains of salt. Some will discard a story immediately, while others will believe it. Those who believe are not fooling themselves. They are only gaining something most significant: oneness with the Master’s will.

16 June 2002, Aspiration-Ground, New York