513. The Wider Fulfilment

Men in public life neglect their families. Often their children are disappointing. Mahatma Gandhiji was known to have created a strong second level of leadership in the Congress. He was known to have created spirited men out of men of straw. Yet his own children had not come up to the mark. This is understandable in the nature of things. Their onerous public duties do not permit them time to devote to their own children. This is true of several leaders in India and in the world. There is another phenomenon not fully appreciated in the world. Its appearance is partial in life. Churchill who had a decade of distinguished service in the British Cabinet was kept out of it for one decade by various Prime Ministers. It was due to Churchill's trying to run the entire Cabinet! At the end of a decade, people compelled the government to bring in Churchill. Before long, he was the Prime Minister.

In life, there does exist a phenomenon when one good event triggers all good happenings. Sri Aurobindo calls this the strategy of Nature in whose process there is no waste at all. In several comedies, we see this rule. As long as Man is focussing on one aspect, what we see in life - leaders neglecting their children - is true. The leader fosters his movement at the expense of his family, especially children. Nature has a wider view aiming at a wider fulfilment. Nature deals with forces not individually, but at the point where all the strands meet. It is like a government inaugurating a multi-pronged project through several departments. Apparently, the work of one department stands out and others are not seen. The other departments have to hold their projects in suspense in favour of one. But all the time, work goes on in all the projects unseen. On the appointed day one department announces its completion. It is followed by every other department's project, just like a fairy tale.

One who is centred in the Spirit cannot be partial. His full attention will be there on all fronts, but results will be seen only in one area. His children cannot become failures because wherever he is, his mind is on all the work he has undertaken. His mind or heart cannot afford to neglect anything, much less his children. But he may not know which facet is being built up in which child. Spiritual fulfilment is wider fulfilment, or the widest of accomplishments. One indication of his paying attention to the whole is those who leave him for other pastures - not those who try to ruin him by opposition from inside - will always flourish far beyond their wildest expectations.