CHENNAI: He was a very poor man, but capable and clever; he appeared content with what little he possessed, and he had no family burdens. He often came to talk things over, and he had great dreams for the future; he was eager, enthusiastic, simple in his pleasures, and delighted in doing little things for others. He was not, he said, greatly attracted to money or physical comfort; but he liked to describe what he would do if he had money, how he would support this or that, start the perfect school. He was rather dreamy and easily carried away.
Years passed, and then one day he came again. There was a strange transformation. The dreamy look had gone; he was matter-of-fact, definite, almost brutal in his opinions, and rather harsh in his judgements. He had travelled, and his manner was highly polished and sophisticated; he turned his charm on and off. He had been left a lot of money and was successful in increasing it many times, and he had become an altogether changed man and on the rare occasions we do meet, he is distant and self-enclosed. Both poverty and riches are a bondage. The consciously poor and the consciously rich are the playthings of circumstances. Both are corruptible, for both seek that which is corrupting: power.
Power is greater than possessions, greater than wealth and ideas. These give power; but they can be put away, but the sense of power remains. One may beget power through simplicity of life, virtue, the party, renunciation; but such means are a mere substitution. The desire for position, prestige and power — the power that is gained through aggression and humility, asceticism and knowledge, exploitation and self-denial — is subtly persuasive and almost instinctive.
Success is power, and failure the denial of success. To be powerful and successful is to be slavish, which is the denial of virtue. Virtue gives freedom, but it is not a thing to be gained. Any achievement, individual or collective, becomes a means to power. Success and the power self-control and self-denial bring, are to be avoided; for both distort understanding. The desire for success prevents humility; and without humility how can there be understanding? The man of success is hardened, self-enclosed; he is burdened with his own importance, his responsibilities, achievements and memories. There must be freedom from self-assumed responsibilities and the burden of achievement; for that which is weighed down cannot be swift, and to understand requires a swift and pliable mind. Mercy is denied to the successful, for they are incapable of knowing the very beauty of life, love. The desire for success is the desire for domination. To dominate is to possess, and possession is the way of isolation. This self-isolation is what most of us seek, through name, relationship, work, ideation. In isolation there is power, but power breeds antagonism and pain; for isolation is the outcome of fear, and fear puts an end to all communion. Communion is relationship; and however pleasurable or painful relationship may be, in it there is the possibility of self-forgetfulness. Isolation is the way of the self, and all activity of the self brings conflict and sorrow