Even as Mother went inside from the hall, Reddy garu from Nellore, along with his wife, entered the hall.
Mother finished her bath and came out. prasadam and asked them to go and have their meal. Reddy garu said: “Mother, I have a small doubt.” She gave
Mother: Go ahead, ask.
Reddy: Why does a person, knowing fully that it’s a mistake, still commit it?
Mother: Because it is unavoidable.
Reddy: Because of this does the self get tainted? Mother: It does not affect me.
Reddy : What does one gain if one is content with this attitude?
Mother: One is not usually satisfied that way.
Reddy : He cannot satisfy himself in that manner when one assumes that one is free to do what one wants to. One does try to escape.
Mother: Of course, one can try. But even that idea and that effort can arise only when they are given. The very power which makes you do it itself will prevent you from doing it. You feel that you do have the power to do it. But in reality you don’t have it. You think that you are walking because you have legs. But there is another power which creates that attempt. But if you think that everything is done by that power, you cannot do anything. Then you won’t have any satisfaction. Nothing can be understood until the proper time comes. Until then that (power) does not permit you to believe what you have heard and what you have perceived. But when the proper time comes, it will be understood automatically. Sometimes even if one does one’s best it does not come within one’s grasp. At another time it happens effortlessly. We call it the ‘strange mystery’ of God. That’s all. It appears as if there is an effort on our part but actually there is none Reddy
Mother, in that case, is there no scope for me to improve myself? When will the right time come for this attitude of mine to change?
Mother:The time certainly comes. The very power which created that quality and for what purpose will also make it disappear.
He felt extremely happy and content with Mother’s reply. (conversation No. 98)
The age-old problem PREDETERMINATION seems FREEWILL to leave and our never consciousness. Destroy it, from the very ashes, it germinates. It is not a burnt seed. Therefore, questions arise about fate and freewill. It is a conundrum: say ‘yes’, you will sulk that we have no freedom. Say ‘no’, and the consequences of your ‘willed’ attempt may not be acceptable. Shall we say that if a result which you do not like comes, learn to like that result since, the result cannot be bypassed? In short, learning to accept any result, without linking it to ‘our’ views about that result, seems to be the irreducible minimum of wisdom, viveka. We live in a world of dualities and they involve choices. The dualistic world is the background – indeed, the battleground – of our faith in our judgments and nagging doubts about our faith.
Where there is faith, where is the scope for fear? An acceptable mental construct. But this does not work so easily. Perhaps, our brains are programmed to doubt, not so much to tie ourselves to unshakable faith. Questioning the ‘real’ is a blind alley. Then what is to be done? Amma says there is a power which controls everything that is yours. And we believe that it is Amma, the embodiment of this power, who is answering our questions. Should we not believe it? Perhaps, our “I” needs to be scotched. We need an ‘I’ but, Ramakrishna says, “the ripe “I”. So, I cite Sri Ram’s words: “Keep an eye on the ‘I’ unblinkingly. The rest is left to each one to work out. But, there is nothing that’s ours.