Once, Baba granted an interview to the Marxist editor of an Indian
Newspaper. He spent two and a half hours with him and persuaded him of his
error. The Marxist questioned Him about the methodology of His kind of
‘revolution’ and Baba replied that He had none in the accepted organisational
sense. His method is the simple one of transforming the inner individual
through love, and the machinery used is co-operation and brotherhood induced by
this kind of love.
The editor then asked why He did not cure the ills of the world by
His sankalpa to which Swami, as one would expect, replied that this kind of
instant solution - without a prior spiritual transformation - would not work;
the world would quickly revert to the present chaos. He also explained that the
whole drama of creation with its karmic law (of cause and effect) would
collapse.
Pressed by the editor about the difficulties in persuading the rich
of such a life of philosophy, Swami replied, “The rich can only come to Me on
the basis of absolute equality. This is why at the ashram rich and the poor
work together, eat, worship and sleep together, do menial tasks together, and
share the common austerities of the ashram. There is absolutely no distinction.
Yet, despite this, the wealthy come to Me in order to secure that peace of mind
which physical comfort and power cannot give. I convert their minds and hearts
to spiritual values and truths.”
The rich cannot secure Swami’s grace without surrendering their
materialistic outlook and self-serving attachments. He tells them, “Ego lives
by getting and forgetting, love lives by giving and forgiving.” He changes
their mental attitudes. He emphasises the need to live a life without desire, a
desirelessness based on high thinking and frugal living, rather than a high
material standard. He shows them that riches provide a fatal temptation, which
is the source and the cause of human bondage.
“Shed your luggage, ” He says, using one of His parables, “you will
travel lighter.” It is not material but spiritual satisfaction that ultimately
makes life worth living. And He points to the poor who are often spiriutally
rich, and to the rich who are often spiritually paupers.
During hisshort stay at Puttaparthi, the Marxist editor discovered
to his amazement that the woman who swept the courtyard was a maharani, his
personal attendant was an ex-magistrate and the interpreter during His
interview was formerly India’s leading scientist, Dr S Bhagavantham!”
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