Part 15 (1/2)
Another day foundalone near the Howrah railway station
I stood for a roup ofa chant
”How undevotionally they use the Lord's divine naaze was astonished by the rapid approach of Master Mahasaya ”Sir, how co ht ”Isn't it true, little sir, that the Beloved's nanorant or wise?” He passed his aric carpet to the Merciful Presence
”Would you like to see some bioscopes?” This question one afternoon fro; the terreed, glad to be in his coarden fronting Calcutta University My companion indicated a bench near the GOLDIGHI or pond
”Let us sit here for a few minutes My Master always asked me to meditate whenever I saw an expanse of water Here its placidity res can be reflected in water, so the whole universe is mirrored in the lake of the Cosmic Mind So my GURUDEVA often said”
Soon we entered a university hall where a lecture was in progress
It proved abysh varied occasionally by lantern slide illustrations, equally uninteresting
”So this is the kind of bioscope the ht was i boredom in my face But he leaned toward me confidentially
”I see, little sir, that you don't like this bioscope I have mentioned it to Divine Mother; She is in full syhts will now go out, and won't be relit until we have a chance to leave the rooed into darkness The professor's strident voice was stilled in astonishment, then remarked, ”The electrical system of this hall appears to be defective” By this time, Master Mahasaya and I were safely across the threshold
Glancing back froain become illuminated
”Little sir, you were disappointed in that bioscope, {FN9-2} but I think you will like a different one” The saint and I were standing on the sidewalk in front of the university building He gently slappedsilence ensued Just as the modern ”talkies” becooes out of order, so the Divine Hand, by soe miracle, stifled the earthly bustle The pedestrians as well as the passing trolley cars, autoes were all in noiseless transit As though possessing an omnipresent eye, I beheld the scenes which were behind me, and to each side, as easily as those in front The whole spectacle of activity in that small section of Calcutta passed before low of fire dimly seen beneath a thin coat of ashes, a mellow luminescence per h it was motionless, while the others flitted mutely to and fro Several boys, friends of h they had looked directly at nition
The unique pantoht me an inexpressible ecstasy I drank deep from some blissful fount Suddenly my chest received another soft blow from Master Mahasaya The pandeered, as though harshly awakened froossamer dream The transcendental wine removed beyond my reach
”Little sir, I see you found the second bioscope to your liking”
The saint was sround before him ”You can't do that to me now; you know God is in your teh your hands!”
If anyone observed the unpretentious master and myself as alked away from the crowded pavement, the onlooker surely suspected us of intoxication I felt that the falling shades of evening were sympathetically drunk with God When darkness recovered fro bereft of my ecstatic mood But ever enshrined in memory is the seraphic son of Divine Mother-Master Mahasaya!
Trying with poor words to do justice to his benignity, I wonder if Master Mahasaya, and others a the deep-visioned saints whose paths crossed mine, knew that years later, in a Western land, I would be writing about their lives as divine devotees Their foreknowledge would not surprise me nor, I hope, my readers, who have come thus far with me
{FN9-1} These are respectful titles by which he was custoned his literary works siives, as rare, this definition of BIOSCOPE: A view of life; that which gives such a view
Master Mahasaya's choice of a as, then, peculiarly justified
CHAPTER: 10
I MEET MY MASTER, SRI YUKTESWAR
”Faith in God can produce anyan examination without study” Distastefully I closed the book I had picked up in an idle moment
”The writer's exception shows his coreat respect for the ht oil!”