Namaste,

As many of the visitors to Mother's Courtyard are aware,
we have been featuring daily readings from the precious
book entitled: "In The Company of The Holy Mother" on
our Nahabat Guestbook

Tomorrow's reading, which follows, presents an interesting
excursion into the Delightful Play, which is directed and
produced by the Divine Mother of The Universe:

========Excerpt from "In The Company of the Holy Mother"===============

Sarayubala Devi:

October-November 1914:

I lay down and she was on the point of dozing off when a servant arrived from Balaram Babu's house with a basket full of custard-apples, which he left in the Master's room. When he asked the monks downstairs what he was to do with the basket, they replied, "What use it will it be? Throw it away in the street." The servant did so; but as he had gone, Mother rose and going to the veranda overlooking the lane, she called to me, "Look, what a pretty basket! And they told him to throw it into the street! They don't care! They are men of detachment and do not worry about such trifling things! But we can't stand the slightest waste! We could use it at least for the vegetable peelings."

With this, she had the basket brought in, washed, and put away. Mother's words and action taight me a lesson as well, but habits die hard!

A little later a beggar arrived and began to cry for alms. The monks were annoyed and scolded him, "Go away, don't bother us now."
Mother heard this and said, "Just look at that! They would have sent him away, just because they would have to leave their own work to bring him alms. Even this little thing they couldn't do! How lazy of them ! They couldn't give a handful of alms to a beggar! Is it right to deprive a man of his just dues? Look at this vegetable peel, even this is the cow's due; one must place it before the cow."

========End excerpt from "In The Company of the Holy Mother"===============

Comment from Nahabat Web Admin:

This brief window into the life at a Ramakrishna Math in 1914 is
enchanting, to say the least.

Let's look at the story from the beggar's point of view:

He is happily sitting with his bowl, a half mile away
from the Math (his usual place), when he sees in the distance,
somebody coming out of a building and tossing a basket into the
center of the road.

This event captures his immediate attention, and he proceeds
to raise his weary, emaciated body from the ground, and shuffles
down the road towards the basket. Just before he arrives on the scene,
and is able to ascertain that it is indeed a very pretty basket,
someone runs out again from the monastery and brings it back indoors.

:)

Dear web admin, on a lighter(or serious) vein, is she not the beggars' mother too and is she also not a child who loves some fun without having any base motive--the question of motive doen't arise in her case. I am talking of the Holy Mother and her action from the viewpoint of the beggar. God is kind, Mother God is kinder. It is all for our good.
Regards.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

Namaste,

As many of the visitors to Mother's Courtyard are aware,
we have been featuring daily readings from the precious
book entitled: "In The Company of The Holy Mother" on
our Nahabat Guestbook

Tomorrow's reading, which follows, presents an interesting
excursion into the Delightful Play, which is directed and
produced by the Divine Mother of The Universe:

========Excerpt from "In The Company of the Holy Mother"===============

Sarayubala Devi:

October-November 1914:

I lay down and she was on the point of dozing off when a servant arrived from Balaram Babu's house with a basket full of custard-apples, which he left in the Master's room. When he asked the monks downstairs what he was to do with the basket, they replied, "What use it will it be? Throw it away in the street." The servant did so; but as he had gone, Mother rose and going to the veranda overlooking the lane, she called to me, "Look, what a pretty basket! And they told him to throw it into the street! They don't care! They are men of detachment and do not worry about such trifling things! But we can't stand the slightest waste! We could use it at least for the vegetable peelings."

With this, she had the basket brought in, washed, and put away. Mother's words and action taight me a lesson as well, but habits die hard!

A little later a beggar arrived and began to cry for alms. The monks were annoyed and scolded him, "Go away, don't bother us now."
Mother heard this and said, "Just look at that! They would have sent him away, just because they would have to leave their own work to bring him alms. Even this little thing they couldn't do! How lazy of them ! They couldn't give a handful of alms to a beggar! Is it right to deprive a man of his just dues? Look at this vegetable peel, even this is the cow's due; one must place it before the cow."

========End excerpt from "In The Company of the Holy Mother"===============

Comment from Nahabat Web Admin:

This brief window into the life at a Ramakrishna Math in 1914 is
enchanting, to say the least.

Let's look at the story from the beggar's point of view:

He is happily sitting with his bowl, a half mile away
from the Math (his usual place), when he sees in the distance,
somebody coming out of a building and tossing a basket into the
center of the road.

This event captures his immediate attention, and he proceeds
to raise his weary, emaciated body from the ground, and shuffles
down the road towards the basket. Just before he arrives on the scene,
and is able to ascertain that it is indeed a very pretty basket,
someone runs out again from the monastery and brings it back indoors.

:)

Location: Guwahati, Assam, India