February 1983
I am in Allahabad on a brief stay with my mother. She has been critical of my visits to my friend, Dr. Sinha, so one evening I decide to take her along. Accompanying us are my friends, Paloo, Vimal, Vimal’s wife Sudha, and Vimal’s Uncle, Prem.
Dr. Sinha thoroughly charms everyone with some very precise information and interesting parables. It is a remarkable meeting, and they all lose their suspicions regarding him.
The next night I go alone and reach the temple platform at about 8:30 p.m. Before long, a young man in his 30s arrives, introducing himself as a disciple of Dr. Sinha. I shall call him “Hari.” Dr. Sinha starts to ask him questions regarding world events, and a sort of duet starts on predictions from earthquakes in China to massacres in 1984 in a Muslim country. I feel as if Dr. Sinha is showing off his disciple.
Gradually, Dr. Sinha changes the subject to me and my wife and asks his student to answer questions about us. Hari was exactly on target.
Then Sinha changes the subject to himself, asking the student various questions. This continues for quite a while and, at one point (half-jokingly), Sinha asks when he, Sinha, will have some financial gains. A range of times when such a windfall could be expected is predicted. No, that is not enough; Sinha wants an exact date and time.
Hari tries to avoid the issue and changes the subject; however, Sinha does not let him off the hook. He doggedly pursues the question. Hari is becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and I feel embarrassed because it came as a surprise to me that money was of such importance. After a while, Hari leaves in a polite huff.
After Hari is out of earshot, Dr. Sinha explains, “I need money like I need a hole in the head. Hari has an extremely capable mind, as you have seen today, but he has reached a plateau in his development.
“When we are that good, we get kudos from the public, which feeds our ego and our development stops.” He continues, “Our goal is to express the nature of our soul on this earth, not to seek glory in other people’s eyes, which is a delusion.
“Delusion saps us of our need to make a relentless effort to do our best. Hari is capable of predicting exact dates and times, but he has slackened his effort. I have told him and reminded him of this. As his teacher, it is my duty to wake him from his slumber. This public display of his need to go further was important for him. I had to create this scenario to jolt his ego. Mathur Sahib, I hope you did not mind being a prop for these theatrics.”
This is a lesson for me in the master/disciple relationship. I am not quite sure at this point if Hari is the student and I am the prop or if it is the other way around. There is a period of silence. The point is well made, and it needs to soak into my consciousness.
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