To know the significance of the insignificant is to discover the Infinite in the finite. Spiritually there is NOTHING which is without significance. We do not know the significance of several significant things because we are unconscious.
Sri Aurobindo speaks of this as a great poem. It is by Francis Thompson. When Mahatma Gandhiji was in jail, he read this poem and Rajaji sent him some notes on it. Later when Rajaji met his leader, Gandhiji, in jail they discussed this poem extensively. A police officer was posted to record their conversation and report to the government.
A widow with two sons was pious. A relative of hers came forward to take her and her younger son into her household. Her piety did not save her husband's life but secured her this asylum. The elder son remained with the husband's family that was less than poor. Of course, she could not even wish for her relative to offer to support the elder son too.
The guru appearing in the dream and initiating the sishya has happened many a time. An old freedom fighter who had heard of Bhagavan Sri Aurobindo had a very vivid dream of Him one day. The next morning the radio announced the passing away of Sri Aurobindo. The man started from Salem to Pondicherry determined to have the last darshan, as he felt it was a call of the departing SOUL.
A man of foresight ensures the outcome before the doing of it. He demands an assurance of his party or the alliance he is in that he would be made the Chief Minister before the elections commence. He fails to get elected as an MLA. Another in renting a house demands he be given the best rooms there. On hiring it, a far more important member arrives and the room goes to him. When we look around us, we see several instances of this description but do not stop to think that there may be a law behind them or this may be a phenomenon.
Nehru once described himself thus. He combined in himself the very best of both the traditions. Writing on the Future of Freedom, Fareed Zakaria, the editor of 'Newsweek International' reviews the practice of democracy with an accent on the post-war period all over the world. He sees them as liberal democracies and illiberal democracies. India receives a great attention of the writer.
The adventure of seeking the unattainable is Romance.
Romance never dies. It cannot die. It has never died in the history of man.
The seeking is the adventure. Attaining is the fulfilment.
The seeking is an eternal flame that knows no death. Attaining is a fulfilment that leads to higher seeking. It gives higher life to the unattainable. Death is nowhere on the agenda.
Money lent to a friend is lost. It also helps you to lose the friends is the wisdom of the world. Many rediscover this truth in their own experience. There is another side to this phenomenon which is perceived by wise people. Sometimes one lends a large sum to an intimate friend which he cannot afford to lose. When his family sees it is not coming, they press him to get it back. The friendship being such, the man refuses to act and tells his people, "Don't exercise your minds on this issue. The money will not be lost.
Youth has no fear. Death is not an idea that will ever enter the minds of youth. There was one who was possessed by a fear of death from a tender age. The possession was real. It was a preoccupation. Living with such a fear is living death. He would not even take his parents into confidence which could have mitigated the fear a little. The one thing he feared more was marriage and the responsibility it involves.