The Mystery Of The Moment-(The Plan Of Nature)

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The Vedanta Kesari, p. 46-49, February 2007

One cannot avoid struggles and challenges in life, for the simple reason that they contribute to our growth. Says Swamiji: Good and evil have an equal share in moulding character, and in some instances misery is a greater teacher than happiness. In studying the great characters the world has produced, I dare say, in the vast majority of cases, it would be found that it was misery that taught more than happiness, it was poverty that taught more than wealth, it was blows that brought out their inner fire more than praise.

All experiences in life-success and failure, praise and criticism, hardships and comforts—are but occasions when one prepares for that magic moment when one emerges stronger and purer, stepping out of human limitations, and discovers one"s divine nature.

This is the mystery of the moment. It is a mystery because it is not known when it would arrive. One cannot schedule its arrival, though through all the right efforts made, one can predict its arrival. One goes on doing ones spiritual practices with faith and zeal, but cannot determine the time when the ultimate result can be experienced. In one of his little known couplets, Kabir, the great saint of north India says,

'O my mind! Everything happens through patience, in due course. The gardener waters the garden with a hundred pails of water, but only when the season comes the trees bear fruit."

One has to keep watering the plants meanwhile. This requires cultivating patience. One should not remain inactive in the name of patience for patience is not lack of activity; it is activity with persistence, with endurance, without losing heart. Time is a mysterious factor, ticking away its influence on every single human being. One whose time has come cannot help it. One whose time has not come—no one can help him, except perhaps he himself.

What is meant by mystery of the moment is that one does not know when the right time would arrive. One should be ready, ever-ready. If one is not ready now, one will be never-ready in future. One should be willing to undergo the pain and joy of patient waiting. Patience means availability. A person should be available for the moment. Says the English poet John Milton thus :
God doth not need
Either man"s work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
His state is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o"er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.

Indeed, serving means not only expressing a wish to serve but availability for service. In other words, one should be ready, patiently waiting the for the right moment.

Think of a piece of sculpture. When a sculptor conceives of an image in a stone, he cannot simply create that image by his thoughts, however imaginative he may be. Of course, he discovers something in the stone which others do not even see. Others may see a piece of stone but the sculptor will see the presence of Vishnu"s smiling face or Divine Mother"s compassionate look.

Having conceived of the image in the stone, he then takes up his tools, his hammer and chisels, and goes on chiselling with tiny strokes of hammer for days and days—to remove what is not-Vishnu or non-Mother in that. When his chisel is positioned on a particular spot and he strikes its head with his hammer, sometimes gentle, sometimes powerful, he knows he has embarked on a long journey. One cannot for sure say when the journey would end. Or think of a sitar-player. He starts meddling with the strings, seeking to produce the right sound, the precise chord. He goes on with practices for days and days, patiently, and with focussed attention. Even a devoted cricket player, if he needs to perfect his game, has to practice, patiently. The moment may come anytime unawares.

About the author

Swami Atmashraddananda

Swami Atmashraddhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and editor of The Vedanta Kesari from the year 2004 .