Filial Piety and the Rigour of Life
By Karmayogi
Our ideas of affection
sometimes touch the Ideal. A young woman who was deserted by her womanising
husband drifted to political patronage which assigned her to their
woman's wing. That asylum saw her through her old age. In her old age,
after a long interval, the truant husband sought refuge in her. She was
delighted that at least at that late hour she had the opportunity to serve her
abandoned husband. Shortly he died of incurable sickness, a result of his
dissipation. His funeral procession was attended by hundreds of women whom the
wife faithfully served. There was a time when this was adored as feminine
loyalty. Often with parents and children, there arises a situation when one is
undeserving and the other is idealistic.
Filial piety is psychological, confined to the human domain. Life is wider than
psychology, spread all over the universe. The rules of life are rigorous and
inexorable. Beyond a certain limit, life does not honour human sentiments,
however laudable they are, especially when one runs counter to the other. The
virtues of joint family are great but when some people start using them to
exploit others, the virtues turn into vices. Virtue or vice, the child's
emotional heart longs to serve the parents, however undeserving they are. The
mother cannot see any blemish in her children, nor is the father capable of
denying the most unpardonable request of his daughter or son. Life puts an end
to such ‘generosities' and keeps one on the track of progress. We
all know several examples of this.
There is a truth of life beyond these sentiments. Spirit goes beyond and opens
ways for the parent or the child to rise to his own expectations. Shankara's
returning to his mother's funeral is an example of high souls not
applicable to ordinary mortals like us. When the Force of Supermind is invoked,
it opens up legitimate spiritual satisfaction to both – parent and children –
as it has the power to go beyond the rules of life which we call karma. Should
one of them – preferably both – accept the higher Force, the limitations of
society, individual psychology and even life's rigours can be bypassed. It
did happen in the lives of more than one devotee. Space does not permit the
details of examples, but the Spirit will permit the longing of the human heart
to serve undeserving offspring or elders.