Swami Sivananda Vani

[Guest guest]

DOUBTS CLEARED: Sri R. M. Karkare was a professor at the Vikram University,

Gwalior. While staying for a short period at the Ashram, he began to wonder

whether its inmates could not be more useful to

society. He put his doubts on paper in the form of a letter to the Master:

 

" I am thankful to you for the kind hospitality shown to me. I appreciate highly

the various activities of your Ashram. I also attend Satsang and other

programmes.

 

" As regards the various books written by your good self, I have a vast number to

go through. Because of what I have read during these days, I am full of great

hopes that the world will be benefited through you.

 

" Yet I have grave doubts regarding the large number of inmates here, who may not

be doing any concrete service to humanity. How can there be any Self-realisation

prior to self-effacement? Apart from their own Sadhana, would it not be better

that these people chose a village where they could serve the needy in the

various aspects of a villager's life?

 

" By sitting idly here they are not serving the cause of the nation, though of

course they might be doing something for the betterment of themselves.

 

" This is not to criticise these souls living here -- great men they are all, and

whom I respect--but the thoughts which have crept into my mind are not leaving

me, and an answer to them may kindly be given

to relieve the burden of it. "

 

After handing over the letter to the Master, the professor continued to stay at

the Ashram, attending the afternoon discourses and morning and night Satsang

programmes. He thought that the Master would

call him to dispel his doubts. When this did not happen, he felt that the Master

might have taken it ill. But, to his considerable relief, on the fourth day, the

Master sent him the following written reply

through his secretary:

 

" Self-realisation is the goal of everyone. And though the ultimate experience is

universal and homogeneous, the approach is different in the case of different

people. This is because, although the ultimate

experience is possible only after the mind has ceased to function, Sadhana has

to be done with the help of the mind. Minds and temperaments differ. Therefore,

the approach to the Reality also differs.

 

" The patriot who serves the country, the advocate and the doctor who serve

society, the engineer, the professor, the scavenger and the motor driver--each

one can attain Self-realisation without stepping out of the walk of life in

which the Lord has placed him. As you have rightly put it, self-effacement is

necessary before Self-realisation, and everyone has the privilege of choosing

his own method of effecting

this self-effacement.

 

" The inmates of the Ashram are all engaged in the service of humanity. Work for

the preservation of spiritual culture is as important, if not more, than work in

other fields of service. As a matter of fact, if the emphasis is gradually

shifted from the political to the spiritual standpoint, I think that there will

be greater chances of the world enjoying peace. Viewed from that point, these

Sannyasins are rendering a more fruitful service to the nation and to humanity

at large than their brethren in other walks of life. There is practically no one

in the Ashram here who is not in some way or the other taking part in the

service which the Divine Life

Society is rendering to mankind. Service is an essential part of the daily

routine of the aspirants here.

 

" But this is not to say that unless the aspirant or Sannyasin engages himself in

spectacular service he is a great and unproductive burden on society. There will

always be introverts of the extreme type who

might not engage themselves in any activity, but would spend all their time in

introspection, self-analysis and Bhajan. They also are necessary. They

apparently do nothing to the world at large, but they

render an inestimable service to humanity by preserving one aspect of spiritual

culture--the introvert aspect. They carry on the tradition of the Virakta

Sannyasin who, through the rugged path of negation of the world itself, crosses

this formidable ocean of worldliness. They are the beacon-lights to other lesser

evolved souls of their type, who would otherwise get lost in the unchartered sea

of Sadhana.

 

" Everyone who sincerely aspires for Self-realisation, whatever be the path he

chooses, whatever he sincerely does towards the achievement of the goal, is

rendering a distinct service to the world at large. He throws out a challenge to

those who feel that only sensual enjoyment is pleasure, and who believe in the

solid reality of the world and worldly associations. Through sincere Sadhana and

self-

discipline you will be able to attain Self-realisation wherever you are. "

 

Thus concluded the Master, and his apt answers to the points raised by the

professor were well received.