Children, real spirituality is maturity of the mind. We may find it necessary to have wealth, earnings, vehicles, and other comforts in our life. But to remain immersed in attaining these is not the goal of human life. Real success in life is attained when we develop the mental maturity to see everyone as equal to us. Any success without this is, in fact, a failure for the individual as well as the society.
Developing our skills is not enough to ensure success in life. We should be able to maintain a tranquil mind in all situations. If not, we will not be able to effectively use the talents we have. A highly educated young man once went for a job interview. The interviewer asked him, “What is your name?” The young man was very nervous, so he did not reply. Then he began to chew his nails and soon began to hum a tune. “Why aren’t you replying?” asked the interviewer. “I am just trying to hum the ‘Happy Birthday’ song because my name comes at the end,” the young man replied. This is often what happens to us—due to our nervousness, we even end up forgetting our name. No matter how talented we are, as long as our mind is not calm, we will never be able to use our talents effectively. Someone who is successful in the eyes of the world may actually be a failure, while someone whom the world thinks of as a failure could be the successful one. Amma has heard of a famous writer who authored many books on how to achieve success in life, and who finally committed suicide. It is not enough to write about success in life, or read about it or give talks on the subject. If one is not able to control one’s own mind, none of this is of any use.
Amma remembers a story.
A man who was an expert archer won many contests and finally became the world champion in archery. Hearing of his success, his friend challenged him, “I know of a master of archery who is also a spiritual guru. If you are able to beat him, I will acknowledge that you are the world champion in archery.” The man accepted the challenge and proceeded to the guru’s ashram with his friend. The friend approached the guru and said, “Guru, this man is the world champion in archery.” Hearing this, the guru commended him highly. The friend then informed the guru of the reason for their visit. The guru said, “Let us go for a walk.” He also reminded the man to take his bow and arrow with him. They walked for a long time and finally reached the top of a tall mountain. Connecting the peak to the neighbouring peak was a hanging rope bridge. A wide river flowed way below, between the two mountains. The three of them got on the rope bridge. When they reached the middle, the guru said, “Over on the other side, there is a tree with only one fruit on it. Can you shoot down the fruit from here?” As the world champion took up his bow and drew the arrow, a strong gust of wind made the rope bridge sway so hard that he was afraid he would fall into the river below. He began to tremble with fear. With great difficulty, he controlled himself and shot the arrow, but it missed the target. When it was the guru’s turn, the guru calmly took up the bow and arrow and aimed at the target. The bridge was still swaying hard in the wind. But he was able to shoot the arrow and bring down the fruit. How could the guru do this? Because, the ‘remote control’ of his mind was in his hand. Nothing external could shake his mind. Hence he felt no fear.
Can you dance peacefully on a shaking stage? Facing life with a nervous mind is similar to this. There is only one thing that always remains still—that is God. If we make God the foundation of our life, our mind will become still by itself. We should dance our life on the motionless stage that is God. If we have the firm belief that God is always with us to support and protect us, we will be able to accept life without any fear or anxiety. Not only will this make the journey of our life joyful, we will also be able to share that joy with those around us.
The writer is a world renowned spiritual leader