I always see the soul⁵⁰

Sometimes — for inner reasons, spiritual reasons, highest reasons, absolutely highest reasons — I have advised people not to adopt children. This story is most recent. Savyasachi is the witness.

Whenever the manager of our hotel in Brunei saw me, he was literally thrilled. He even had reverential awe. We became very close friends. I lifted him, and when I gave him the medallion, he was shaking powerfully. He is such a big, stout person. I had to grab his hand because he was absolutely shaking. He had so much nervousness. He said, “I am deeply honoured. I do not know what to say.” I was standing beside him, and he was trembling. I had to hold on to him.

Later, when I was going out of the hotel, he came up to me and said, “Please, please, do you have a minute? I am bringing down the chairman of the hotel.”

I said, “Certainly.”

Then he gave me a gift. It was a clock, very beautiful. He was asking me about our next location. I said, “We are going to Sabah. You have been so kind to us. We have been your guests. Now I would like you to be my guest. I am inviting you to come and be our guests, you and your wife.”

His soul is so closely connected with the soul of a former Australian disciple of mine. Each time I talked to the manager, I saw that boy’s love for me. Each time I saw the manager, I only saw that boy’s soul. It is so easy to deal with somebody whose soul is so familiar. The manager is also Australian.

I rarely ask people ordinary things like, “How are you?” I almost never ask these questions. But for some reason I asked the manager, “Where is your wife from? Is she Australian?”

He said, “No, my wife is from Brazil.”

I said that Brazil is very beautiful. We were there only two or three years ago. Then I said, “You will not accept my invitation?”

He said, “No, we are going to Bali. We want to take rest there.”

I said, “I am very, very happy. Bali is so beautiful. I have been there two or three times. Our Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee was so kind to me. Last time in Bali I was able to meet with our Prime Minister.” Then I asked, “How many children do you have?”

He said that they had no children. They had been married for fourteen years, and now they were going to adopt a child.

Something or someone spoke through my mouth. I said, “Please wait for two years. If you do not have a child within two years, then you can adopt.”

He said, “Two years?”

I thought to myself, “O God, what have I done?” But he looked at me with such love and faith.

Later I heard that he told Savyasachi, “I take what Sri Chinmoy said very seriously. We will wait for two years.”

Do I ever say this kind of thing to people who are not my disciples? Why did I ask him where his wife was from and how many children they had? These things I never, never ask. But something within me had such affection for this man because I saw in him my dear disciple’s soul. In terms of heart, that Australian boy is so devoted to me. He is one hundred per cent for me. I always see the soul, and I saw the connection between his soul and this manager’s soul.