It is 7 a.m. Daaji is out for his daily walk in the rainforest near his house.

At 9.15 a.m., Elizabeth Denley came in with the content of the message for the September Bhandara. Daaji reviewed it and suggested a few changes.  

At around 2.15 p.m., after supplying micronutrition to the recently planted trees surrounding his house, he treated one of the trees with a polarity session.

By then, it had started raining heavily in Kanha. Daaji was hardly deterred by the showers, and he resumed his rounds of the ashram in the rain. After an inspection of the water level and the flow of water through interconnected pipes at the Madhuvanam pond, he proceeded to the nursery to hand over a few seeds for planting. On the way, seeing a student walking back from school in the rain, he offered him a ride home in his car. The little boy was delighted to take the joy ride with Daaji, who safely dropped him off at the staff quarters in the nursery area.

On his way back home, Daaji spotted yet another child holding an umbrella and riding a bicycle with his school bag on his back. On being inquired about the whereabouts of his house, the boy said he lived in Kaivalyadham, an apartment block located on the periphery of Kanha Shanti Vanam. Daaji instructed one of his associates to haul up the cycle in the back of the car. Then, asking the boy to get into the car, he dropped him off near Kaivalyadham.

At around 5 p.m., Daaji engaged himself in some gardening work around his house.

He gave an evoking and soul-stirring response to an e-mail with a question on balancing the various aspects of human life:

Should I Attend Birthdays and Wedding Parties?

Wouldn’t you want someone to attend your daughter’s birthday party? We often wonder about the purpose of life: Is it to serve humanity? Is it to become wealthy enough to enjoy the pleasures on Earth? Is to undergo penances for the sake of paradise in the hereafter? Is it to follow religion by the book, according to every word written in the scriptures?

When we witness the lives of great Masters, we see how they lived. Nothing in excess. They had a normal grihastha life, they raised children, they participated in the marriages of their children, they performed needed rituals without any aversion. They did everything that any householder would do. They did not reject spirituality for the sake of material well-being, or material life for the sake of spiritual life. Like King Janaka, they fulfilled their worldly duties. King Janaka ruled the kingdom wearing his crown, sitting on a throne, and he continued with his inner spiritual life without any excess or show. He had a perfectly balanced life of integration. It was by integrating that the Masters were able to transcend all that they did.

I receive hundreds of inquiries on matters like attending birthday parties, marriages, etc. – “Should I attend or not?” The writers complain about the noise, food, alcohol, and prevalent atmosphere. My simple submission is that if you break the cord with friends and relatives, they will not appreciate your spiritual approach. The role that you could have played in transforming them will not play out. They will label you as a rebel. Moreover, since you failed to participate in those moments, you could not muscle up your spiritual strength to tolerate the unappealing parties. The key is to withstand those moments with indifference. It is in transcending that we move further, not by non-acceptance. When we begin to accept so-called adverse situations, then we begin to soar. The interiorization can touch the deepest levels within when consciousness finds its opposite! Somehow a new level of consciousness begins to take a grip on us. We feel emboldened.

Ponder over this: If an adult walks with a child, does he become a child? If we accept a glass of apple juice and relish it during those parties, and if the host remains happy, will it not cast a good impression? Can such an act somehow give the host the message that he too can have a party and yet lead a spiritual life? If we remain on a high pedestal and reject an invitation to attend someone’s marriage or birthday party, we will repel many willing souls from the path of spirituality.

When others see us happily integrating the material and spiritual wings of life, they too will feel inspired to take up a life where both the spiritual and material wings are masterfully active. After all, what is the purpose of this Godly creation? It is in fulfilling our craving that the invisible craving of the Existence is fulfilled.