Arthur Osborne - Tribulation #7

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Bhagavan, as I was later to discover, did not encourage

people to play the guru, even to the limited extent to which I

had been doing so. He would not absolutely forbid it, for that

would be doctrinaire. If asked he might say: “If it is a man’s

destiny to be a guru he will be.” And he knew that some of his

devotees acted so. But on the whole he discouraged it. Even

apart from the direct and obvious danger of flattering a man’s

ego and perhaps inducing him to let himself be regarded as a

realized man when he is not, it means a turning of the energy

outwards when the aspirant still needs to turn it inwards. If it

does not actually put a stop to his further progress, it at least

makes it more difficult.

 

And what happened afterwards? Of all those I had known

in camp only Hartz was drawn to Bhagavan after the war. For

the first year or two he concentrated on building up a business

and making money. Then he broke a business trip from Europe

to Thailand to spend a few days at Tiruvannamalai. It was the

hot season when I was in the hills with my family. The children

were going to a convent school in the hills and we used to

spend several months there in the summer, so as to be able to

take them out of the boarding house and have them at home

with us. I went to Colombo to meet Hartz and we spent the

night at the house of K. Ramachandra, a friend who always

welcomed devotees of Bhagavan. Next day we flew to Madras

and stayed with Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami, another devotee. The

railway journey from there to Tiruvannamalai is roundabout

and takes a whole day and night, and the excellent bus service

which now plies had not yet been started, so Hartz hired a car

for the trip. He was not averse to showing the advantages of

being wealthy.

 

Bhagavan was very gracious to him. Indeed, a photograph

of Bhagavan taken by him on this trip is evidence enough of

the love and encouragement with which Bhagavan regarded

him. He received the initiation by look, but, although told by

the devotees that this was Bhagavan’s mode of initiation, he

wanted to make quite sure and therefore said: “I want Bhagavan’s

initiation.” Bhagavan replies: “You have it already.” This is the

only occasion of which I know when he explicitly confirmed

having given initiation.

In another way also Hartz desired assurance: he perhaps

feared that when he got back into life of the world with all

its distractions his steadfastness might weaken. He asked

Bhagavan for some guarantee and was given the tremendous

assurance: “Even if you let go of Bhagavan, Bhagavan will

never let go of you.”

 

Once Bhagavan has taken up a person, his destiny becomes

more purposeful, is speeded up, so to say. From a worldly point

of view this may be for good or ill; prosperity may be needed

for one man’s development, adversity for another. Evidently

Hartz was of the latter type, because from this time his business

got into difficulties and within a few years it had evaporated

completely. He had planned to come back and even to build a

house at Tiruvannamalai, but he was not able to. How many

such cases have I seen, where the first visit was made easy but a

planned return was frustrated year after year! He went through

many vicissitudes and for a period of years I did not hear from

him at all; but Bhagavan did not let go of him.

 

And the others? Perhaps some of them followed some other

path, perhaps not. I have already indicated in an earlier chapter

that what educationalists would call ‘the percentage of wastage’

is very high on the quest. Christ warned of this when he said

that many are called but few are chosen — another of his sayings

to which exoteric Christianity can give no meaning. Called to

what and chosen for what? Certainly not to membership of a

Christian church or it would be manifestly untrue. They take as

many as they can get. Then for what? For heaven? That would

carry with it the rather grim corollary that the great majority of

mankind go to hell. But as soon as one understands the esoteric

teaching of the quest, the saying becomes a statement of what

happens and corresponds with what is taught in all religions.

The Bhagavad Gita says the same, only expanding it to show

that the not-called are even more numerous: “Among thousands,

perhaps one strives for Realization; among thousands who strive

for Realization, perhaps one knows Me as I am.” (Ch. 7, v. 3).

 

It rests with the aspirant himself. No one can do the work

for him. The Buddha’s last words to his followers were an

exhortation to strive and be a light for themselves and a haven

for themselves. Sometimes a devotee would try to inveigle

Bhagavan into a statement that his grace alone was sufficient

without effort on the part of the devotee, but without success.

He said once: “If the guru could just give Realization there

would not be even a cow left unrealised.” In the language of

mediaeval mythology, the guru may give the magic sword and

the cloak of invisibility, but it is the hero himself who must use

them and achieve victory — or fail to do so. True, these people

had not yet any guru; but at least they knew where to seek.

When I first read Guenon I did not even know that. Whoever

perseveres is guided somehow or other, although he may be

sorely tried on the way.

 

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taken from Arthur Osborne's MY LIFE & QUEST