Father and Sri Yukteswar admiringly evaluated the
other's worth. Both had built an inner life of spiritual granite,
insoluble against the ages.
From transient teachers of my earlier life I had imbibed a few
erroneous lessons. A CHELA, I was told, need not concern himself
strenuously over worldly duties; when I had neglected or carelessly
performed my tasks, I was not chastised. Human nature finds such
instruction very easy of assimilation. Under Master's unsparing
rod, however, I soon recovered from the agreeable delusions of
irresponsibility.
"Those who are too good for this world are adorning some other,"
Sri Yukteswar remarked. "So long as you breathe the free air of
earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service. He alone
who has fully mastered the breathless state {FN12-16} is freed from
cosmic imperatives. I will not fail to let you know when you have
attained the final perfection."
My guru could never be bribed, even by love. He showed no leniency
to anyone who, like myself, willingly offered to be his disciple.
Whether Master and I were surrounded by his students or by strangers,
or were alone together, he always spoke plainly and upbraided
sharply. No trifling lapse into shallowness or inconsistency escaped
his rebuke. This flattening treatment was hard to endure, but my
resolve was to allow Sri Yukteswar to iron out each of my psychological
kinks. As he labored at this titanic transformation, I shook many
times under the weight of his disciplinary hammer.
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