A certain couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jalie, in London, arrived to take Shri Nathji’s darshan. At the time a flood of telegrams were pouring into the little home at Fairhazel Gardens, London, from all over India.
What do these telegrams mean? Mrs. Jalie asked.
It is the birthday of His Holiness! Mrs. Chabowski replied.
After the brief function was over, Mrs. Jalie, who was an elderly English lady, came to Shri Nathji and spoke on behalf of her Indian husband, Kundan Lal Jalie.
Today is a sacred day, she said, surely something must be granted to us on this day!
What do you desire? Shri Nathji asked.
I ask nothing for myself, but my husband is very restless. He has not slept for nights. He has suffered reverses in his business. He is a man on the verge of despair. The depression appears incurable. Only you can help him, said Mrs. Jalie.
Shri Nathji called Mr. Jalie close and said to him:
Mr. Jalie, what a wonderful wife you have got. She asks nothing for herself, but desires peace and prosperity only for you. Some time back you were flourishing in your business, but today you are in despair because of losses. Let me ask you a question: What is the worth of a zero?
Nothing, said Mr. Jalie.
When zero discovered it was nothing, it became like a tear-drop, said Shri Nathji, it tried to expand itself, it tried to merge several zeroes into itself, but it remained unchanged–still a nothing. How could it increase its worth? It asked itself.
“And it came close to ‘one’ and said, ‘I am nothing.’ And ‘one’ asked zero: ‘Are you calling yourself a zero after establishing a relationship with me, or without establishing any such relationship?’
‘Without a relationship you cannot ask such a question, and with such a relationship you are no longer zero, you have become ‘ten.’
‘You can become one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand and more, but remember, this will be your worth only when you keep me with yourself. If you discard me, you will become zero again.’
Shri Nathji’s words touched Mr. Jalie to the heart. He went home, content, and for the first time in many days, had a peaceful sleep. It was Shri Nathji’s miracle. Shri Nathji had given him something no doctor or a psychologist could have given him.
Without returning to him the wealth he had lost, Shri Nathji returned to him his peace of mind. This was the greatest miracle of Shri Nathji–to give peace in the midst of suffering. Anyone would be at peace if his troubles were removed. But to restore peace to the mind in the adverse conditions that prevailed, was a task only Shri Nathji could accomplish.
Mr. and Mrs. Jalie began telephoning Shri Nathji daily. They would come to him again and again. They would take him for a drive in their car. The longer one’s association with a flower, the greater the fragrance one was apt to get.
How are you, Mr. Jalie? Shri Nathji would ask him on the telephone.
Perfectly all right, he would reply, perfectly contented!
And Mrs. Jalie would be ever grateful to Shri Nathji. Their friends and acquaintances, who had seen Mr. Jalie acutely depressed and worried just a few days before, were astonished at this transformation in him. They knew his financial position had not improved, but something had transformed the state of his mind.
“I accept you as Rama and Krishna,” Mr. Jalie would say to Shri Nathji, “from my brain as well as my heart!”
As he would drive Shri Nathji through the city of London in his car, he would say: Nathji! I am your chauffeur and this is your car. Should you ever wish to tour Europe I shall be at your disposal.