LIFE IS ADJUSTMENT

[amandeep]

IT was in mid-seventies that a newly-wed couple visibly angry and
cursing each other approached Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji Maharaj at
Chandigarh and alleged an irretrievable breakdown in their
relationship. Baba Ji referred them to Rev. Rajmata Ji who was sitting
nearby. Rajmata Ji gave them a patient hearing for a pretty long time
and discovered that it was only a case of ill adjustment, born out of
ego-clash. When the couple pressed for her intervention for dissolving
the relationship, Rajmata Ji asked them, "What will you do
afterwards?" Both quipped backs quickly, "We shall resettle
elsewhere." Rajmata Ji thoughtfully explained to them, "Your recently
held marriage cannot be dissolved in a huff. Besides, what is the
guarantee that elsewhere you will find a good partner. If the new
spouse turns out to be still worse, then what?" The couple was dumb-
founded and pensive. After a pause, Rajmata Ji persuades them to
attend the Sangat (Congregation) whereafter the matter could be sorted
out calmly and positively. Baba Ji witnessed all this.
Willy-nilly, the couple made for the Sangat. They looked like rivulets
frozen at the top but agitated thoughts (like water) running fast
beneath them. After about two hours, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji Maharaj
generalized the individual case of the day and among other things
especially blessed the congregation with the guiding secret of a
successful family life.
With the realization of Fatherhood of God, one discovers himself to be
a member of a global human family. The enlightened devotees are always
expected to behave like angels to each other full of compassion and
concern for every one. Their life is comparable to water, which at
once adjusts and takes the shape of changing containers of different
sizes and shapes. In exactly the same way, the devotees may not be
able to change the circumstances but they can, certainly, change their
attitude towards them and adjust accordingly. This kind of optimum
adjustment is called for to lead an ideal life worth the name.
Viewing life from worldly angle, Baba Ji expressed regret that like
the headlights of a vehicle, faults of others look glaring. This
attitude turns man against man and, in the process of doing wrong to
others, he himself also gets wronged. Slowly but steadily, he gets
into an abyss of gloom and darkness and loses twenty-four hours of
happiness for every day he is in anger.
Touching upon the inherent gregarious instinct in man, Baba Ji
stressed that to vouchsafe harmonious environment in and outside our
homes, we must acknowledge the fact that we have all to produce a
heave in unison to build such a society. This makes us interwoven,
interconnected and interrelated with the people around us. The way we
listen to other persons is crucial for building or breaking
relationship. At a collective and an individual level, we should have
natural ability to appreciate the other person's position. We must
respect different cultures, ways of life and beliefs and explore
viable alternatives to avoid making our home unpleasant.
Stressing the miraculous effect of restraint, Baba Ji added that
appreciation, respect and understanding coupled with patience,
compassion, tolerance and humility go a long way in promoting the
positive feelings and serve our purpose in every walk of life. When
practiced, all virtues lead to humility and humility, in turn, means
normalcy which is so essential for successful adjustment in life of
the individual and the human family at large, bringing the heaven on
the earth. Baba Ji rightly distinguished between the so-called great
men with baser instincts and greater-than-men saintly persons full of
virtues: the former believing in standard of living, while the later
in achieving standard of life.
Referring to economic adjustment, Baba Ji explained that it is not so
important as to what a man earns. The importance lies in the fact as
to how one adjusts with whatever one earns. There is enough in the
world for every body's need but not enough for one man's greed. Also
there is no demarcation where the poverty ends or the richness begins.
At times, we spend money we have not yet earned, to buy things we do
not need simply to impress others. This show-syndrome can create hydra-
headed virus completely disturbing our adjustment.
Bringing out adjustment as the natural law of our being, Baba Ji
compared life with a blanket, too short: when we pull it up, our toes
shiver and when we yank it down, our shoulders shiver. But when we
adjust ourselves by drawing our knees close to the chest, we pass a
comfortable night.
Concluding his discourse, Baba Ji exhorted the devotees to live an
ideal life which is nothing but projection of saintly traits.
The estranged couple walked hand-in-hand up to Baba Ji and heartily
thanked him for rescuing them from their marital disaster.