by Sri P.C. Lahiri
Many years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of
owing a large sum of money to a moneylender. Those were the days of moneylenders
ruling the roost. The moneylender who was old and ugly fancied the merchant’s
beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the debt
if he could marry the daughter. The merchant was horrified by the proposal
about the marriage of his beloved daughter to the ugly old man but the daughter
did not betray any emotions.
The moneylender proposed a deal. He would put a black and a white pebble in an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, then she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked a white pebble, then she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But, if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be jailed. A few village elders who were there seconded the offer of the moneylender as a very fair one under the circumstances for obvious reasons. The merchant, her father, was a devastated man and went into a state of stupor.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. While they were talking, the moneylender bent over to pick two pebbles. As he picked them up, the cool, composed and devoted girl noticed that two black pebbles were picked and put in the bag. The merchant then asked the girl to pick a pebble out of the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis by management students and some professors of a top business school produced four possibilities:
1) The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2) She should expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3) She should feign sudden illness/severe pain and save the day to gain time to tackle the issue another day.
4) She should pick a pebble and sacrifice herself to save her father from debt and/or imprisonment.
Let us look at these suggestions from the girl's perspective:
The first option puts her father in jail. Hence, it’s an obvious no-no from a loving daughter.
The second option may not help as the odds are heavily stacked against father/daughter in that hostile environment. The effort to expose the moneylender as a cheat could easily boomerang due to the widespread support he enjoys owing to being a rich and powerful man of the area.
Feigning sudden illness may/may not save the day because the job of picking a pebble can be executed in a few seconds. Despite feigning illness, the other side can insist on the execution of the deal in a few seconds. Also, once the third option is attempted, there is no way to back out. If it fails (which is the likely outcome), all would be lost.
The moneylender proposed a deal. He would put a black and a white pebble in an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, then she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked a white pebble, then she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But, if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be jailed. A few village elders who were there seconded the offer of the moneylender as a very fair one under the circumstances for obvious reasons. The merchant, her father, was a devastated man and went into a state of stupor.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. While they were talking, the moneylender bent over to pick two pebbles. As he picked them up, the cool, composed and devoted girl noticed that two black pebbles were picked and put in the bag. The merchant then asked the girl to pick a pebble out of the bag.
What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis by management students and some professors of a top business school produced four possibilities:
1) The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2) She should expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3) She should feign sudden illness/severe pain and save the day to gain time to tackle the issue another day.
4) She should pick a pebble and sacrifice herself to save her father from debt and/or imprisonment.
Let us look at these suggestions from the girl's perspective:
The first option puts her father in jail. Hence, it’s an obvious no-no from a loving daughter.
The second option may not help as the odds are heavily stacked against father/daughter in that hostile environment. The effort to expose the moneylender as a cheat could easily boomerang due to the widespread support he enjoys owing to being a rich and powerful man of the area.
Feigning sudden illness may/may not save the day because the job of picking a pebble can be executed in a few seconds. Despite feigning illness, the other side can insist on the execution of the deal in a few seconds. Also, once the third option is attempted, there is no way to back out. If it fails (which is the likely outcome), all would be lost.
The fourth option ruins the life
of a beautiful young girl and is a very weak option. Even a person following the path of devotion
should not be a weak person as the path of Godliness is not meant for weak
people.
Intellectually trained minds, with ample time at their disposal, thought only of imperfect solutions. The girl had to arrive at a decision while standing on her two feet within minutes, if not seconds. What did she actually do? It is not only an eye opener, but also provides a wonderful spiritual lesson.
She put her hand in the bag and drew out a pebble, clasped in her palm, in a closefisted position. Without even looking at it, she fumbled and let the pebble fall on the pebble-strewn path where it immediately got lost among hundreds of other pebbles. Oh! How clumsy of me. I am so sorry! Making many such statements she profusely apologized. The moneylender immediately suggested - never mind, let us do it again. The girl interjected and said that it would not be needed sir. If you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which color pebble I had picked. This was the master stroke. Since the remaining pebble was black, it must be assumed that she had picked a white one. The moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The other village elders had to accept the final outcome, despite their original intention of helping the moneylender. The father was overwhelmed and had tears of joy as both he and his daughter were free now.
The management gurus gave the moral of the story — most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way, generally referred to as “out of the box thinking”. The answer satisfied most of the management students, barring only a few. On being questioned that how do you develop this out of the box thinking skill, unconvincing answers were given, such as: it comes by practice, or by cultivating an unconventional outlook, or by deep thinking accompanied by concentrated involvement in work. The management gurus did not pay much attention to what the girl said on being questioned as to how she was able to arrive at that extremely innovative line of action. They just considered the girl to be an uneducated villager who had accidentally chanced upon a successful course. The girl on being questioned simply said that the “course of action just came to me”. She further added that she had faith in God as the ultimate Master of the universe. The whole thing is that simple but very difficult to comprehend and accept by our trained minds which bank only on acquired intellectual knowledge.
Unfortunately, the efficacy of an uncluttered, uneducated, simple and devoted mind is not properly appreciated by the realm of management/material science the world over. This is what they don’t teach at Harvard. It is extremely difficult for a conventionally educated mind which is highly active in the material world to go beyond its boundaries, despite having a scientific and analytical outlook. The flexibility that is generally shown by them is only within the boundaries of material management or material scientific knowledge. In other words, what is analyzed and understood is within the limitations of mental function. Out of the box thinking, as defined by them, is in fact nothing but “in box” thinking from a different angle — 'old wine in a new bottle' as is commonly said. Only the packaging changes, without there really being any inherent change. Real out of the box thinking requires a fundamental or inherent change in the belief system. What is that change? It is the gradual build-up of faith/belief in God/Guru/Self as the Ultimate Divine Being which is appearing in this universe as all forms, names and ideas, including myself and all the circumstances around me at any given point of time. If the movement of mind, intellect and ego is around this faith, then that life will have a happy and truly successful tenure at all times. Calmness, steadiness and fearlessness shall descend in that life, like the girl of the story narrated above. Such a life ultimately qualifies to become a perfect instrument of the Divine for Its revelation. What is the use of a materially successful life which creates excessive tension and fear in that very life? The more successful you become, the more is your tension and fear.
Hundreds of highly enraged people were charging at a girl to kill her for her sins. To save herself from the mob she ran for help towards Jesus Christ and surrendered at His feet. Jesus heard her plight, stood up in front of that highly enraged mob without any trace of fear and spontaneously uttered that he who has never committed a sin in life can come forward to punish her. This is spontaneity at its best. No amount of intellectual knowledge and consequent mental conviction can produce this statement in front of such adversity within seconds. No amount of physical strength could have imparted such courage and conviction which was full of love and devoid of any malice or hate towards the perpetrators. Let us not fool ourselves by saying that it was possible for Lord Jesus but not for us. That way we would lose the golden opportunity of re-training our minds to first accept and then blend true spiritual science with the knowledge of material science prevalent in the world. In this context, presented below are chosen extracts from the book ‘Science of Oneness’ which is a compilation of spiritual divine speeches of Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur (the Master) by Dr S R Rajderkar (Rajuda). The excerpts have been taken from pages 28 to 32.
‘The present day crisis of the world is that of proper education and proper security of life.’
‘Dharma, religion, according to spiritual science, is the sustaining principle. It is the infinite process and technique of all-round development and balance of power and knowledge of both inner and outer nature of man as well as that of the entire creation. It contains the total essence of all manifestations.’ (This spiritual science is termed by the Master as the ‘Science of Oneness’.)
‘Natural science provided us with material advancement in numbers and it has given us two powers — physical and intellectual. It is not all-perfect. In spite of having well development of physical and intellectual powers, people are not satisfied and fulfilled. They feel insecure for the fear of death. For the attainment of perfection, balance and peace in life, spiritual science is needed. The ‘Science of Oneness’, if truly followed and cultured, can save all from the calamity of death, from the misery of bondage of transmigration. ….A scientific mind is essential for the culture of the ‘Science of Oneness’, in order to achieve the highest end or goal in life. If ‘Science of Oneness’ manifests a little in the heart of man, he will be able to conquer anger, fear, desire, and acquire inner spiritual power and knowledge with the fullness of its quality and quantity, and thereby be fully established in peace.’
The Master has given the tool to solve the “pebble riddle” in life of one and all, irrespective of any condition or discrimination whatsoever. Even ‘a little manifestation’ of the ‘Science of Oneness’ takes us to a highly peaceful and blissful state in this very life. Now, it is up to us to accept It and then follow It in our day-to-day life to get established in It forever.
Intellectually trained minds, with ample time at their disposal, thought only of imperfect solutions. The girl had to arrive at a decision while standing on her two feet within minutes, if not seconds. What did she actually do? It is not only an eye opener, but also provides a wonderful spiritual lesson.
She put her hand in the bag and drew out a pebble, clasped in her palm, in a closefisted position. Without even looking at it, she fumbled and let the pebble fall on the pebble-strewn path where it immediately got lost among hundreds of other pebbles. Oh! How clumsy of me. I am so sorry! Making many such statements she profusely apologized. The moneylender immediately suggested - never mind, let us do it again. The girl interjected and said that it would not be needed sir. If you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which color pebble I had picked. This was the master stroke. Since the remaining pebble was black, it must be assumed that she had picked a white one. The moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The other village elders had to accept the final outcome, despite their original intention of helping the moneylender. The father was overwhelmed and had tears of joy as both he and his daughter were free now.
The management gurus gave the moral of the story — most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way, generally referred to as “out of the box thinking”. The answer satisfied most of the management students, barring only a few. On being questioned that how do you develop this out of the box thinking skill, unconvincing answers were given, such as: it comes by practice, or by cultivating an unconventional outlook, or by deep thinking accompanied by concentrated involvement in work. The management gurus did not pay much attention to what the girl said on being questioned as to how she was able to arrive at that extremely innovative line of action. They just considered the girl to be an uneducated villager who had accidentally chanced upon a successful course. The girl on being questioned simply said that the “course of action just came to me”. She further added that she had faith in God as the ultimate Master of the universe. The whole thing is that simple but very difficult to comprehend and accept by our trained minds which bank only on acquired intellectual knowledge.
Unfortunately, the efficacy of an uncluttered, uneducated, simple and devoted mind is not properly appreciated by the realm of management/material science the world over. This is what they don’t teach at Harvard. It is extremely difficult for a conventionally educated mind which is highly active in the material world to go beyond its boundaries, despite having a scientific and analytical outlook. The flexibility that is generally shown by them is only within the boundaries of material management or material scientific knowledge. In other words, what is analyzed and understood is within the limitations of mental function. Out of the box thinking, as defined by them, is in fact nothing but “in box” thinking from a different angle — 'old wine in a new bottle' as is commonly said. Only the packaging changes, without there really being any inherent change. Real out of the box thinking requires a fundamental or inherent change in the belief system. What is that change? It is the gradual build-up of faith/belief in God/Guru/Self as the Ultimate Divine Being which is appearing in this universe as all forms, names and ideas, including myself and all the circumstances around me at any given point of time. If the movement of mind, intellect and ego is around this faith, then that life will have a happy and truly successful tenure at all times. Calmness, steadiness and fearlessness shall descend in that life, like the girl of the story narrated above. Such a life ultimately qualifies to become a perfect instrument of the Divine for Its revelation. What is the use of a materially successful life which creates excessive tension and fear in that very life? The more successful you become, the more is your tension and fear.
Hundreds of highly enraged people were charging at a girl to kill her for her sins. To save herself from the mob she ran for help towards Jesus Christ and surrendered at His feet. Jesus heard her plight, stood up in front of that highly enraged mob without any trace of fear and spontaneously uttered that he who has never committed a sin in life can come forward to punish her. This is spontaneity at its best. No amount of intellectual knowledge and consequent mental conviction can produce this statement in front of such adversity within seconds. No amount of physical strength could have imparted such courage and conviction which was full of love and devoid of any malice or hate towards the perpetrators. Let us not fool ourselves by saying that it was possible for Lord Jesus but not for us. That way we would lose the golden opportunity of re-training our minds to first accept and then blend true spiritual science with the knowledge of material science prevalent in the world. In this context, presented below are chosen extracts from the book ‘Science of Oneness’ which is a compilation of spiritual divine speeches of Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur (the Master) by Dr S R Rajderkar (Rajuda). The excerpts have been taken from pages 28 to 32.
‘The present day crisis of the world is that of proper education and proper security of life.’
‘Dharma, religion, according to spiritual science, is the sustaining principle. It is the infinite process and technique of all-round development and balance of power and knowledge of both inner and outer nature of man as well as that of the entire creation. It contains the total essence of all manifestations.’ (This spiritual science is termed by the Master as the ‘Science of Oneness’.)
‘Natural science provided us with material advancement in numbers and it has given us two powers — physical and intellectual. It is not all-perfect. In spite of having well development of physical and intellectual powers, people are not satisfied and fulfilled. They feel insecure for the fear of death. For the attainment of perfection, balance and peace in life, spiritual science is needed. The ‘Science of Oneness’, if truly followed and cultured, can save all from the calamity of death, from the misery of bondage of transmigration. ….A scientific mind is essential for the culture of the ‘Science of Oneness’, in order to achieve the highest end or goal in life. If ‘Science of Oneness’ manifests a little in the heart of man, he will be able to conquer anger, fear, desire, and acquire inner spiritual power and knowledge with the fullness of its quality and quantity, and thereby be fully established in peace.’
The Master has given the tool to solve the “pebble riddle” in life of one and all, irrespective of any condition or discrimination whatsoever. Even ‘a little manifestation’ of the ‘Science of Oneness’ takes us to a highly peaceful and blissful state in this very life. Now, it is up to us to accept It and then follow It in our day-to-day life to get established in It forever.
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