It was afternoon, and the sun was sinking down in a low glow over the mill calm waters of the Ganga. The riverbank was bathed in the golden light, but just in front of it a small mob had assembled, and a man was talking loudly and unconfidently. His voice lifted without much trouble above the compartmenting of the crowd, and five or six avid listeners heard. He was telling tales of the Shat-Karma the six tantric deeds, of the Maran, the Mohan, but what he told me was a gum disease of superstition mingled with what I could only term as garbage reasoning.
After several years working and contemplating these subjects under the tutelage of my guru, I knew that his assertions were empty at first sight. Nevertheless, the audience swayed to what was apparently, false reverence, with expressions cast with wonder. The intellectual superiority within me was surging up. I stood there a moment scoffing myself at the stupidity of the man and the blindness of the crowd. So, throwing my back, I went out in search of my guru.
The frustration and indignation rushed out of me like a creek as soon as I saw him. I have just seen a man making a fool of himself and others! Guruji, I said. He is raving nonsense on about Uchhatan and Vammarg. There is no rationale, no facts, it is nothing but pure manipulation.
I anticipated my guru to accompany me in canning the man, or in the research of the man on a scientific basis and examining the falsehoods he made up. His reply astonished me. He gazed up at me regarding me, in a sort of piercing silence, placid and yet commanding–almost military in its concentration.
He asked me what I had said to him.
“Nothing,” I admitted. “I only watched.”
His face was stiffened and hardened into a stern, though stabilizing look. So you are not allowed to judge him. You wavered down the road of the coward should you, upon seeing a lie, not rise up and provide the truth. Being a backbiter is simple and non-poisonous, yet a slow poison. It molds your character and becomes your spirituality even more maimed than his stupidity is himself.
Then I had a shock, as though I had been re-oriented in my inner compass. But Guruji, I said, he is getting converts! That nonsense is what impresses people actually.
When I leaned back, the new tone of my guru changed to a Hindi street-smart swifter that sliced right through my pretense. Hear me, “पानी से पानी मिले, मिले कीच से कीच, ज्ञानी से ज्ञानी मिले, मिले नीच से नीच ” ( Law of Affinity—the natural tendency of like to attract like. Means the wise find the wise; the low find the low.)
This is a universal law, said he, and continued. Every individual has a role model who reflects on his or her internal state. Unless the said individuals are impressed by the same, it is because he is what lies in them at the moment. Your role model, your guru, these are nothing more than extensions of your inner image. You do not need to spend your energy on concern as to who follows the fool, just care as to why you decided to bring his rubbish back to me in your mind.