Great spiritual Masters are normally thought to be very enigmatic persons, hiding behind a facade of holiness and a mask of severity-generally persons to whom one cannot get close, and whose assumed aura of mystery one can hardly ever hope to penetrate. This is true of the sannyasis of India, in general, their monastic attire and attitudes proving barriers to any real human intercourse. When I saw my Master for the very first time, I was taken by surprise, to the extent of being shocked, as I have related in my book My Master. I had been primed by all that I had seen, and by all that I had been told or taught about the great spiritual Masters, and that was the reason for the shock of that first exposure. My Master was a householder, a grihastha, and had raised a family while serving in the district court of Shahjahanpur, his birthplace, and was as ordinary as ordinary can be. When he went out of his compound, no one could be blamed for thinking that he was an ordinary citizen of that rather dirty place. He looked no different from the others, and had no distinguishing marks, either by way of caste marks, or of attire. He was a small built person, very spare of build, and 65 years old when I first had his darshan in 1964. He was of medium height and had a very fair complexion, with a fine silken skin, soft and smooth to the touch, and when one touched it, one wanted to go on feeling the caress of his skin, so petal soft and smooth it was. His face was long, and he had a prominent nose, indicating his tremendous mental capacities. His expression was always soft and loving, and I have rarely seen him angry enough for it to affect the serene expression on his face. He had a high forehead too, augmented by some baldness, and this added greatly to the charm of his appearance. Though one does not normally apply such a term to a male, I do not hesitate to say that he was a most beautiful and charming person; noble in visage, loving of expression, benign always, kind to the point of indulgence, and of a softness of manner I have never seen in anyone else all these years of my existence. In fact I would say he was the soul of tenderness, and his every word and action reflected his tenderness which was tinged with a permanent attitude of compassion, which made all melt in his presence, even at the first meeting. He could conquer anyone who came into his august presence, and I have always warned those who went to him for the first time to beware of him, as those who went in rarely came out! Such was the impact that he had on all those who came in touch with him. I can only say that he was devastating in his utter simplicity and love, openly expressed in the limpid look of his most beautiful eyes, eyes which seemed to hold all of eternity within them, and into which one could gaze and gaze without ever coming to the end-they seemed to contain infinity within their liquid depths. Early problems with his teeth made him grow a beard, under the advice of His Master Lalaji Maharai, and this he kept well trimmed, and in the Muslim mode, so that all thought he was a Muslim when they first saw him. It had no special significance whatever, though many tried to emulate his spiritual grandeur by growing beards themselves. Nevertheless, his beard became an object of love, along with his hooka, and they virtually became his symbols. He was the spiritual teacher par excellence, who taught by personal example. His life was an open book. He taught with a gentility of manner, rarely making any direct demands except from those from whom he thought he could make such demands, but alas, such were few, to his regret. His ethical precepts were always delivered as indirect teachings, and he never blamed anyone for any fault. He felt that a guru must set an example, and do whatever he could to uplift those who came to him, and that was that! His guru bhakthi (devotion) was something unparalleled in the long and ancient tradition of this country, and blessed all those who had the good fortune to meet him. For him, Lalaji was the summum bonum of existence, and there was nothing else in the whole universe for him to look at or to admire. It was Lalaji, Lalaji, Lalaji all the time, and for him his own existence was based on that one truth, that He existed because of Lalaii, by Lalaii, and for Lalaji! He had no difference in his behaviour, and was the same under all circumstances, and in all company. For him a human being was a human being, and he was totally innocent of all the social and religious differences that ignorant humanity had saddled itself with. He did not hesitate to criticise the prevailing social and religious mores, with all the attendant corruption, and fall in values, which has brought humanity to its knees, as it were. But even his criticism was made gently, but firmly, so that none could ever be in doubt as to what he said. There never was any ambiguity in his speech or manner-and he was the perfect living example of his oft repeated saying, "Say what you mean, and mean what you say." In spite of his slight and slender build, and meek and gentle manner, he was a veritable lion at heart, and where his purpose, the spiritual purpose, was at stake, he brooked no interference. He had an indomitable courage, and a dedication to his chosen purpose, which brooked no interference, and he would sail on serenely, like a leviathan at sea, oblivious to all obstruction bent on plotting a straight course to the goal, against all odds. The sole aim of his existence was to fulfil its purpose, its divine purpose, and the promise made to his Master, Lalaji Maharaj, and this was the guiding beacon, the radar, and the motive power behind his placid and serene existence, which had all sorts of pitfalls and trials and tribulations waiting to be conquered by the indomitable courage which derived out of his total faith in His Master. He started his Mission in response and obedience to the orders of his Master in the year 1945, and starting from scratch, without any material means or human help, he has built an empire of spirituality that now illuminates and encircles our planet. He gave of himself freely and without reserve, and the result, as he would have said, "Is there before you all to see." His life is the proof that a gentle and loving soul, his heart filled with compassion, motivated by an ideal that is beyond this world, blessed by the divine Master, can achieve anything in this universe, and this was the purpose that he sought to hold up before us, his ardent lovers, his devoted admirers, and followers on the way. May he live long in the memory of those who love him, and who cherish the hopes that he cherished, and aspire for that which he achieved. May he bless all humanity to find its way again. May he everlastingly guide those who seek the way, and the goal, and clear all the impediments to attainment of the goal of human perfection. (Reprinted from Constant Remembrance, April 1989) |
