Sri Aurobindo discarded the usual methods of yoga and advocated Surrender as the only desirable method. Surrender is all-inclusive. The main strand of surrender is Self-giving. It is interesting to know the ways of Self-giving. Its ways are peculiar. One of them is when someone wants to deprive you of something, he presses the key of Self-giving in the atmosphere. The atmosphere gives you the same thing in a greater measure. This is a kind of transformation of evil into good. In the life of devotees, such instances are legion.

All-out efforts are made to meet the water scarcity in the coming summer months. It is commendable that forethought is evinced instead of waking up late in the day. It is likely that these serious efforts are rewarded by the skies in a subsequent season. The Divine begins where Man ends is the rule. But the Divine has the very bad habit of waiting for Man to exhaust the very last drop of energy and effort. While there is maximum effort on securing water physically to the city, there seems to be a complacency in another way. Faith is reposed in physical effort.

A school is rated by the results it produces. The best results come more out of a paying school than a free school. Exceptions are always there. It was a great moment in the educational history of Tamilnadu when Kamaraj made education free upto SSLC. It is a truism of life that nothing valuable can be given free. Service minded people whose lifeblood is self-giving do not like to hear such truths. The truth behind is subtle and spiritual. And yet all spiritual treasures are to be given free and not to be charged.

That a good man must be rewarded with success of all descriptions is an ingrained ideal in us. Looking at several successful people, we discover little goodness is there. Whatever goodness is there is by chance or mistake, not by the law that goodness is rewarded. We also witness the phenomenon that extremely successful people are false, mean, wicked, evil and corrupt. This fact has baffled the conscience of humanity. It is noteworthy that all of them will certainly have one major point of goodness, usually a pleasant exterior.

Religion has a gradation. The ONE is the illumined one whom all look up to, which is right. Mother says the days of religion are over, the future is for Spirituality. The Spirit is Brahman. It creates the solar system and an anthill. Brahman is a whole. It can only be a whole. It can give itself only as a whole. It cannot give itself as a part. Brahman cannot give a part of Himself. The character of Brahman being a whole can never be parted for a moment. I am a man. My body is a whole. My body cannot move in parts. It can move itself only as a whole.

Affectionate husbands, when the intensity of affection comes down for any reason, never slacken their attention. As attention matures into affection, affection dilutes itself into attention. It is never so with an affectionate mother. Her affection is unvarying. Over the years it only grows richer, knows no dryness or bleak void. It is mostly expressed in an expressive tone or engaging looks. Affection grows in intensity to acquire the shades of love. It is said love is the one of the three ways in which divine Ananda of Sachchidananda reveals to the human personality.

A reader writes that she was the recipient of undeserved Luck. She has not said whether it is because of the Spirit she invoked or by what circumstances. Those who feel they deserve luck do not get it. Luck seeks those who feel that they do not deserve it. Feeling that they do not deserve it is a kind of true inner humility. It attracts luck. As air rushes to a point of low pressure, Luck looks for a human point that is not self-sufficient. This is a rule of Nature in the widest sense. Nature works at different points at different times guided by her own Purpose.

I know I have a life. Each man has a life. We say social life, human life. What is it? The lives of all people in the society together is social life. But there is more. I breathe, everyone breathes. Air is inhaled and exhaled. The atmosphere of earth is covered by air. We don't see it, but feel it. We speak of the atmosphere of the earth. The atmosphere is different from the air. There is light all over the earth. We feel the heat or cold. Gravitation is a force. Electricity is in the atmosphere. We see it as lightning.

He is blessed who is lost in the work. Such people are efficient as their concentration is total. Whatever they are or not, their efficiency is par excellence. Such people are a matter for envy. "He won't notice you for hours when he is immersed in work" is the comment they evoke. Invocation of Spirit is something that is commendable. Anyone drawn to Spirit can invoke the Spirit when they go in. The response will be instantaneous and magnificent. There are times when we face problems too big for our personality. At such times we feel 'it is not for me'.

Man yearns for luck which is an undeserved reward. It never comes. When it sails towards him he is a foot off the ground. 'I cannot accept what I have not earned' is an oft-heard remark in the life of the Western individual. People not aware of their cultural moorings offend Westerners by offering gifts they do not seek. There is no greater hallmark of self-respect or individuality. It is exceedingly good. As usual it is not the only truth. There is the other side to it. Ours is a different culture.