Heart to Heart

The Masters are always more concerned about the needs of their disciples than their own. I remember once Maharaj Sawan Singh had a cold and high fever; some of us begged him to rest and not to go to satsang that afternoon. He said he was all right and must go to satsang. Bibi Ralli and a few close satsangis knew that he was far from well and was in great discomfort. They almost insisted that Maharaj Ji stay in his room and rest. But he replied, “The more this body is utilized in seva the better. After all, it will be consigned to flames one day. I should never neglect the duty entrusted to me by Baba Ji.” At satsang his face was radiant and his voice so powerful that the sangat did not suspect that he was ill.

Later in the evening as I was coming out of the Master’s residence, a man approached, running, and said that he had just arrived and must see the Master. I told him that Hazur was ill, had just given a two-and-a-half-hour satsang, and it was not proper to trouble him now. But he would not listen. He said he had to report on duty at Meerut Cantonment the next morning. He became very insistent in his demands, so I bolted the door on him.

When I returned to Maharaj Ji, he said, “There is a man outside who has come from a long distance. Please bring him to me.” I replied that I had already sent him away, but Maharaj Ji told me to find him and bring him back. I looked everywhere, and only after giving up the search did I see him on Hazur’s veranda, the very picture of misery. I apologized to him and told him that Maharaj Ji wished to see him. He was overjoyed. With tears of gratitude in his eyes, he went upstairs with me to Maharaj Ji’s room.

The man requested initiation. Hazur agreed and asked him to sit down. Anxious for Maharaj Ji’s health, I begged that the man be initiated the following morning. Though unwell and looking tired, Maharaj Ji overruled my suggestion and initiated him.

A few weeks later the Master gave me a letter to read. The man had died just ten days after initiation. He had had a fever for only two days when he announced to his wife and brother that his inner eye had opened and Hazur was with him. He told them that his end had come, and asked them not to grieve over his death. His wife asked what she would do without him. He said, “Go to the Satguru at Beas and take his refuge.” To his brother he said, “If you want liberation, you should also go to Beas and get initiation.”

A lump rose in my throat as I read the letter. Now I realized why the Master, in spite of his own ill health, had initiated the man so late in the night.
_{Heaven on Earth}

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To the Master, his spiritual children are dearer than the offspring of the flesh. The latter are entitled to his worldly property but his spiritual children would succeed to his spiritual wealth. You, as disciples, are dearer to me than my own sons.
_{Maharaj Sawan Singh, Spiritual Gems}