SIGHT AND INSIGHT

We all know the old saying, "When the pupil is ready, the Master appears." But it is also true that when the pupil is not ready, the Master simply disappears!

F. H. Dadachanji in his diary notes gives us this example:

A sannyasi "had wandered over almost the whole of India, visiting places of pilgrimage and taking darshana of Saints and Masters, and came to Baba's doors with a desire for darshana in Rishikesh (1942).

"One morning, while Baba was as usual giving his instructions to the writer of these notes, sitting on the pavement of the house where the group was staying at Rishikesh, the sannyasi appeared before the gates, desiring Baba's darshan. He was told that Baba wouldn't see anyone until after he finished his tours to the Himalayas. He was also told that his very presence at Baba's doors was equal to meeting Baba and having his darshana, if not in body, in spirit. The man, rather talkative as this type of sannyasi usually is, began to argue as to why and wherefore of such a denial, and boasted of his pilgrimage to so many places in India—and that he wouldn't care if he was refused darshana at one place, and so on, which indicated a sad lack of understanding of the very fundamentals of spirituality (humility, patience, longing, etc.) and of the ways of Masters.

"The more one tried to explain and pacify him, more argumentative he became, and he began to quote passages from the Shastras (sacred scriptures of the Hindus), and eventually went away, injured in pride, and muttering a significant couplet of a famous poet:

" 'Mohe tu kahan dhunde bande, mae to tere pas me hun.'

"`Where dost thou seek me, O dear devotee! I am always near and with you!'

"Repeating this couplet louder and with a dramatic air, expression and gestures, his eyes turned up towards the heavens, he walked off, passing again actually by the side of Baba. Had he only turned his face, even slightly, to the other side, he would have clearly seen Baba personally. But since his time had not come, or he was not destined, he simply couldn't, although Baba didn't move from his seat during all these talks, significantly