Ashram Diary

Swamiji explained to me the Sādhanā of moderation: “We should be able to remain harmonious even in the midst of apparent disharmony.”

Once a Tamil mendicant had come to the Ashram asking for alms. Swamiji started asking him lovingly about various aspects of his life. I left the place to attend to some other work. When I came back after about half an hour, I found both Swamiji and the mendicant sitting on the floor of the verandah. There were coins spread all around, and Swamiji and the mendicant together were counting the money!

What had happened was: while enquiring about his life, Swamiji had asked him how much money he had got that day by begging. Hearing his reply Swamiji suggested that why not they count it. The mendicant opened his bag and poured out whatever was there. And that is how the two were seriously engrossed in the important work!

My mind used to think: how is it that Swamiji never feels disturbed? Anybody calling him at any time, whatever he might be doing, he leaves the job and attends to the call. Even when there is some important work waiting, he spends a long time listening to people – may be a devotee or a help-seeker.”

I felt that the secret of not feeling disturbed lay in Swamiji’s impartial love for all. What I had to grow was this impartial love for people.

By nature, I was given to extreme punctuality, order and cleanliness. When we first came to the Ashram, there was nobody to run the place. To keep the entire area tidy, to maintain the buildings, gardens and the coconut groves, and to look after the guests, with the assistance of a few workers whose language and manners we did not know, was not easy at all. The workers also were initially not too happy to have sudden supervision over their ways, that too from two “foreigners”.

So, the real austerity was to deal with the uneasiness of the mind that was naturally given to order, discipline, peace and harmony. Swamiji explained to me the Sādhanā of moderation: “We should be able to remain harmonious even in the midst of apparent disharmony. To remain unaffected even when the situation is not as expected, but to carry on with one’s effort towards perfection, is samatvā.”

In Swamiji we find an embodiment of the scriptural statement:

यदा यत्कर्तुमायाति तदा तत्कुरुते ह्यृजु ।
शुभं वाप्यशुभं वापि तस्य चेष्टा हि बालवत् ॥ ४९ ॥
yadā yatkartumāyāti tadā tatkurute hyṛju |
śubhaṃ vāpyaśubhaṃ vāpi tasya ceṣṭā hi bālavat || 49 ||
(Ashtavakra Samhita 18.49)

Any time, whatever comes to be done, good or bad, he does right then straightforwardly (without the twist of ego); his motivation is like that of a child.

-From the book–A Great Association