ONE NEVER FAILS

 
Judge Khilnani had recently moved with his family to Ahmednagar, where he had been transferred to a new court. In the interim, they were living in Khushru Quarters. Opposite that bungalow was the Sarosh Cinema. In the course of conversation, Baba remarked to him, "Now you must be having plenty of entertainment. Are you fond of seeing movies?"

Khilnani said, "There was a time when I liked to watch movies, but now I don't have any urge to go." Pointing to his wife, Girja, Baba asked her the same question. She said that she liked to attend select movies, especially those expounding spiritual themes.

From Hamirpur, the son of Bhavani Prasad Nigam sheepishly walked into the room. He had gone to Bombay without his parents' permission, and there had had his wallet pick-pocketed and lost all his money. Baba met with him for a while and arranged through Nariman the train fare for his journey home.

When the boy left the room, Baba commented, "His father is the head of a joint family, a very practical and loving man. But see how the son is! How worried his parents must have been, but what does he care! He was having the time of his life in Bombay!

"Is this not a film show? The day-to-day events of the universe are like a movie. Some feel happy and some miserable."

Aloba was called and Baba asked him to recite a few lines from Hafiz in Persian. The meaning of the couplet was:

Khilnani said to Baba, "We understand this quite well on an intellectual level, but we cannot live up to it and cannot help being miserable, although this is all a game of nothing."

Baba replied, "Mere verbal knowledge does not help much. But remember one thing: if misery and happiness are in the domain of Nothing and are really nothing, then why not always choose to be happy? Remain happy. Try to remain happy. Know that God alone IS, and all else is nothing."

Gajwani interrupted, saying that understanding derived through reading is vague and later on becomes confusing. Therefore, he had stopped reading books on spiritual subjects.

"This is only partially true," Khilnani opined. "When we are with Baba, our Master, reading becomes unnecessary, but when we are away from him, reading of his book and meditating on their themes are a real solace in life, at least for me."

Baba stated, "Truth can never be expressed in words. However, words have their own importance within certain limits. The effect of reading depends upon the kind of books and the value you attach to them. We find people quarreling in the name of religion over their holy books. Is it not like dogs fighting for the bare bones which have no marrow in them?"

Baba asked Aloba to repeat the lines of Hafiz referring to orthodox believers and fanatics, wherein Hafiz says:

Baba continued, "The real men (lovers of God) do not pay heed to ritualistic books, but instill in their lives the truth revealed by the Perfect Masters."

Khilnani said, "Yes, but why is it that man, although he desires to be good and honest, fails to do so? This is the question."

Baba replied, "When one honestly desires, one never fails. Not one, but many questions crop up in the mind and will continue to do so. There is only one way out, only one remedy; 'Obey the Master.' That will answer all your questions. That will lead you, guide you and make you understand what is in fact un-understandable. All your problems will be solved. Hafiz says: