Souls that Smile - J P Vaswani

Yesterday a dear and an esteemed brother met me. There were tears in his eyes. And in a voice touched with plaintiveness, he said to me: "The spiritual urge is growing within me from more to more. I feel that I can no longer do the humdrum duties of an office assistant. Surrounded by files and meaningless papers, I feel unhappy, miserable. I want to resign and belong wholly to my Guru and my God!"

For this brother I have always cherished the highest regard. I have wished to learn of him many things, for he is far more advanced than I in the spiritual path. I quietly listened to his words: And I went and reflected over them in silence

True it is that at one time or the other, the words are wrung out of the hearts of the vast majority of men: "I feel unhappy, miserable!" And the mind, which does not rest content until it has discovered a reason for every happening, a cause for every effect, examines outer conditions and places its finger on this circumstance or that as the cause of unhappiness. I am unhappy because I have to work in the secular atmosphere of an office. I am unhappy because of straitened financial circumstances. I am unhappy because of an incurable disease. I am unhappy because certain people spread false and malicious reports against me. I am unhappy because I cannot get the girl I love. I am unhappy because my children have fallen into evil ways… And so on. There is no end to reasons for unhappiness.

© "East and West Series" (June, 2004) published by East and West Series, 10, Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune 411 001. Website: www.sadhuvaswani.org. Reprinted with permission.

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