There was a rich businessman who traded in cotton. He had huge godowns filled with cotton. And, one day, as he sits in his office doing his daily work, an assistant rushes into his room, trembling from head to foot. "Sire!" he blurt out, "a great calamity has befallen us. All our godowns have been burnt to ashes. Here is the telegram just received."
The businessman reads the telegram. He closes his eyes for a brief moment and then says, "Gratitude to Thee, O Lord! Great are Thy mercies, and they endure for ever!"
So saying, he quietly resumes his work as though nothing has happened. The assistant is dumbfounded at this attitude of supreme indifference in the face of dire calamity. Those were days when insurance companies were not known, and a fire meant loss of millions of rupees.
After the lapse of an hour, the assistant comes again to his master. This time the face of the assistant is wreathed in smiles. And he says, "Sire! We have just heard from the telegraph office that the telegram was delivered to us by mistake: it was meant for someone else. Thank God, all our godowns are safe!"
Once again, the businessman closes his eyes for a brief moment and then says, "Gratitude to Thee, O Lord! Great are Thy mercies, and they endure for ever!"
This businessman knew what it was to be "still in God". It is not as easy as it may appear to be. But it will come to us as we grow into the realisation that we are not doing anything at all, that we can do nothing on our own, that not even a leaf can stir except if it be His will.
Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.
