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INSTRUCTING A DOCTOR: The Master was in the office. A small group of devotees squatted around him. Among them was Mira, a medical student. At first he asked her one or two simple questions just to set her at ease.
Master: "Doctor, which is the largest muscle?"
"Tailor's muscle."
"Which is the most important gland?"
"Pituitary"
The Master then referred to the disgusting behaviour of those doctors whose sole aim was more and more money.
"They send bills to their fathers also," said the Master and, turning to the girl, "Don't care for money. Attain salvation in your own home. God will give you money."
There was a pause and the Master resumed talking. "If a poor man has no money, will you go?" he asked, and himself added, "This is medical ethics." He then asked Mira what her visiting fee was.
"No fee now, Swamiji."
"After getting a pass, finish D. G. O. Then you can take up M. R. C. O. G. later on. How many bodies have you dissected?"
"Three or four."
"Completely?"
"No, half.. some parts."
"Have you dissected by remaining alone in the room?"
"No, Swamiji."
The girl might have taken the Master literally just then, but what he might have meant was whether she had ever sat in a quiet place all by herself and done Vedantic enquiry such as: "What is the body? What is the mind? What is the soul? Who am I? What are the elements?" and so on. In all such cases the person addressed by the Master might or might not immediately understand the inner implications of what he said, but the hidden spiritual meaning did dawn on the person's mind at some point of time by the Grace of the Master, as if in a flash.
The Master now turned his attention to one or two items of other work. Then he spoke to the medical student again. "You know cooking, Mira?"
"Yes," said the girl.
At the Master's instance, snacks and coffee were distributed to all present. Shanta, a student from the South, recited a chapter of the Gita. The Master presented books to the visitors. After that he returned once again to Mira.
"What is the difference between virus and bacillus?" he asked and, before the girl could collect her thoughts, he queried, "Is virus ultra microscopic?"
"Yes, Swamiji," she said.
"All right," said the Master, "one you can see, one you can't see."
How subtly he taught, and how beautifully, with apt analogies! Bacillus we can see, virus we cannot see; the world we can see, God we cannot see; Saguna Brahman we can see, Nirguna Brahman we cannot.
Master: "Doctor, which is the largest muscle?"
"Tailor's muscle."
"Which is the most important gland?"
"Pituitary"
The Master then referred to the disgusting behaviour of those doctors whose sole aim was more and more money.
"They send bills to their fathers also," said the Master and, turning to the girl, "Don't care for money. Attain salvation in your own home. God will give you money."
There was a pause and the Master resumed talking. "If a poor man has no money, will you go?" he asked, and himself added, "This is medical ethics." He then asked Mira what her visiting fee was.
"No fee now, Swamiji."
"After getting a pass, finish D. G. O. Then you can take up M. R. C. O. G. later on. How many bodies have you dissected?"
"Three or four."
"Completely?"
"No, half.. some parts."
"Have you dissected by remaining alone in the room?"
"No, Swamiji."
The girl might have taken the Master literally just then, but what he might have meant was whether she had ever sat in a quiet place all by herself and done Vedantic enquiry such as: "What is the body? What is the mind? What is the soul? Who am I? What are the elements?" and so on. In all such cases the person addressed by the Master might or might not immediately understand the inner implications of what he said, but the hidden spiritual meaning did dawn on the person's mind at some point of time by the Grace of the Master, as if in a flash.
The Master now turned his attention to one or two items of other work. Then he spoke to the medical student again. "You know cooking, Mira?"
"Yes," said the girl.
At the Master's instance, snacks and coffee were distributed to all present. Shanta, a student from the South, recited a chapter of the Gita. The Master presented books to the visitors. After that he returned once again to Mira.
"What is the difference between virus and bacillus?" he asked and, before the girl could collect her thoughts, he queried, "Is virus ultra microscopic?"
"Yes, Swamiji," she said.
"All right," said the Master, "one you can see, one you can't see."
How subtly he taught, and how beautifully, with apt analogies! Bacillus we can see, virus we cannot see; the world we can see, God we cannot see; Saguna Brahman we can see, Nirguna Brahman we cannot.