Part II
SOME DIVINE QUALITIES
IF the inner life of man is to be harmonious and enlightened he has to develop and express many divine qualities while he is engaged in his daily duties. Qualities necessary for spiritual life interdependent Each quality, by itself, may not seem to be extremely important, but it is not correct to consider it apart from its necessary relation with other important qualities. In spiritual life all these qualities implement and support each other; and their inter-connection is so vital that not one of them can be completely ignored without detriment to many other essential qualities. So, considered in its true function, each of these divine qualities turns out to be absolutely indispensable for a complete life.
Every man is a rightful heir to the Truth, but he who would inherit it must be spiritually prepared for it, and this spiritual preparation sometimes takes several lives of patient and persistent effort. Patience and persistence Therefore, one of the first requirements of the aspirant is that he should combine unfailing enthusiasm with unyielding patience. Once a man is determined to realise the Truth he finds that
his path is beset with many difficulties, and there are very few who persist with steady courage till the very end. It is easy to give up effort when one is confronted with obstacles. This might be illustrated by a story of a man from Poona. He once read a spiritual book which impressed him so deeply that he felt like renouncing everything. He left Poona, went to a jungle near the city, and sitting under a tree with a rosary in his hand, he began to repeat God’s name. He kept doing this all day in spite of much inconvenience and dwindling enthusiasm. After sunset he heard from all sides the cries of animals, and though these cries grew louder and louder in the gathering darkness of the night he persisted in his determination. When, however, he saw through the darkness a huge bear coming towards him, he fled to save his life and ran for seven miles at top speed until he fell unconscious in a shop in Poona. As he regained consciousness he related his adventure to those who had gathered around him, much to their amusement; and that finished his mood for renunciation.
Spiritual effort demands not only physical endurance and courage, but also unshrinking forbearance and unassailable moral courage. Accepting the world as it is The world is caught up in Maya and is addicted to false values, therefore the ways of the world run counter to the standards which the aspirant has set for himself. If he runs away from the world, that does not help him. He will again have to come back to the world to develop that quality which would enable him to face and accept the world as it is. Very often his Path lies through the world which he has to serve in spite of not liking its ways. If the aspirant is to love and serve the world which does not understand him or even is intolerant towards him, he must develop infinite forbearance.
