There is a big difference between ‘doing nothing’ and doing nothing, says SWAMI AMRITAGEETANANDA PURI

During both Onam and Krishna Jayanti, Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) delivered a message for the occasion, sang bhajan, encouraged people to dance, and guided them in worship through visualisation. Everyone in the hall was focussed on Amma, except five individuals. They were Amma’s security guards. They remained standing like statues, without any expression. And yet, they were working. They were fully alert and aware, watching the people around Amma and scanning the crowds. If there had been any security threat to Amma, these security personnel would have sprung into action immediately. Work does not necessarily mean a lot of physical activity. The security team was doing good work, though motionless. Similarly, the sound engineer sits quietly. Only his fingers move when necessary. Once, a farmer was pulling his cart full of vegetables uphill to the market. He saw a man sitting by the roadside, munching on sandwiches, and occasionally throwing stones into the river nearby. Irritated by the sight, the farmer thought, “These idlers are a burden on our country. They don’t do anything but eat and waste their time!” The farmer continued on his way. That evening, on his way down, he saw the same man sitting beside the river and throwing stones into the water. Unable to control his anger, the farmer shouted, “You lazy, shameless man! People like you are a liability to our country!” The man was, in fact, Lorenzo de’ Medici, a famous magnate, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets. He had been sitting there and throwing stones into the waters to watch the ripples and their colours so that he could paint them on his canvas. How much patience and concentration are needed to do so! The ignorant think that meditation is easy and fit only for the lazy and those who shirk their responsibilities. A few decades ago in Madurai, there lived a mahatma popularly known as ‘Chumma-irrukkum Swami,’ which, in Tamil means ‘Swami who sits doing nothing!’He used to sit day and night under a tree in front of a temple; that is how he earned the name. The temple authorities would give him lunch everyday. This went on for some time until a new administrative officer (AO) took over. He was irritated to see temple authorities feeding the swami daily. When he asked them why they did so, they said that the swami was a mahatma. The AO was not convinced, and went to the swami, sat down beside him, and asked, “People say you’re a mahatma. What’s so great about you?” The swami replied, “I don’t think I am great, though people say so. ” The AO said, “Show me why people say so. ”The swami said, “Alright. Please sit here for some time!” The AO sat in front of the swami for 15 minutes… half an hour… almost one hour. Finally, the AO lost his patience and said, “I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour and I still don’t see what’s great about you!” The swami then said, “You lost your patience after sitting here for barely an hour! I have been sitting here for the past 40 years!” Spiritual masters, having experienced their nature as sat-chit-ananda, have nothing more to achieve. Some choose to travel across the world, guiding devotees in their spiritual and dayto-day life. Others, like avadhutas guide only those who come to them after realising their greatness. The Guru Gita calls those who teach, ‘Vaagmi’ and those who choose to remain silent, ‘Mouni. ’ There are many who work silently. Amma says that calamities and confusions in the world are reduced by the sankalpa shakti, will power, of mahatmas who sit silently, absorbed in deep meditation. We need not confuse this kind of ‘inactivity’ with doing nothing due to inertia or dependence. If you ask some people, “Why are you just sitting and doing nothing?”they say, “I can’t work without my laptop, which is being repaired. ”Whether in the office or at home, their eyes are glued to their computers! Many problems are related to a lack of physical work or exercise. Some youth will not consider working in the garden, planting saplings. Let us not consider manual labour inferior and work in offices as superior. At the same time, let us not ridicule mahatmas who have cultivated the Shakti to stay still and experience sat-chit-ananda. ■