How an entire family became the Master's disciples

A spiritual Master went to meditate with his disciples one evening. Alas, he saw that the ashram residents were all talking and making a great deal of noise. He said, "Let me go alone to the nearby park and meditate." So the Master went to the park and sat on a bench where he entered into a deep meditation.

The Master's eyes were wide open. Before long he saw a middle-aged lady pass by with two very beautiful children, a son and a daughter. Since the Master was in high meditation, he would normally not have spoken, but he saw that both the boy and girl were extremely promising spiritually. The Master very kindly asked the mother, "How old are your children?"

The mother responded, "This is my seven-year-old engineer son." Pointing to the girl, the mother said, "She is my five-year-old very great and prominent singer."

The Master enquired, "At the age of seven, your son has become an engineer? And at the age of five your daughter has become a great and famous singer? I do not understand. Would you please illumine me?"

The mother said, "You are a spiritual Master and yet you do not know anything! I can read the future, but it seems you cannot. I can see that my son will one day be a great engineer and my daughter will one day be a great singer. Since I can see the future, I can say this now."

Then the Master stated, "We shall meet again in a few years."

Startled, the lady replied, "No! Your prophecy will prove untrue."

"Why?" enquired the Master.

The lady explained, "We are moving away from this town. Since your ashram is here, I know you will never be able to see us again."

The Master said, "Let us see. I am sure that we will meet together again."

"My God!" exclaimed the lady. If this comes true, then you are going to ruin my life and my children's lives. I can see that you want my son and daughter to follow the spiritual life, but I do not want that at all!" Then she began lamenting, "Why did I come to the park today and see you? I will not allow my children to be spiritual."

The Master simply said, "Fine, let us see. Let us see." The Master did not want to engage in any more argument. He said to himself, "I was at fault. I was in such high meditation. Why did I ruin my meditation by speaking to this lady?" Cursing himself, he returned to the ashram.

The Master entered into his room and started meditating very seriously. He asked his Inner Pilot, "In the future, will these two children come to my ashram or not?" Then he clearly saw that both the boy and the girl would come in a few years' time and become his disciples.

When the son was twenty-two years old and the daughter was twenty years old, they both gave up their studies. They would see only one thing whenever they wanted to read anything — the Master's eyes. When they talked with people and in everything that they did, they saw the Master's eyes, full of boundless love and boundless compassion. Even when they spoke with their mother or father, they saw inside their parents' eyes the eyes of that spiritual Master.

Eventually the children sought out the Master and became his disciples. Shortly afterwards, their mother came to the ashram only to scold and insult the Master. She said, "You have ruined my life! You have taken my daughter. You have taken my son." But the children, who were now grown up, did not want to go back to their parents.

The Master said, "I am sorry, extremely sorry. I should never have been there in the park."

The mother was helpless. She started to return home and was cursing the Master for taking away her daughter and son. On the way back, the mother saw the Master standing right in front of her, like a solid wall. She was blocked from going any further. "What is happening?" she said, in a frustrated tone. "This Master is now with my son and daughter. My children are so happy and the Master is very happy, but he does not want me to be happy." The mother could not take even one more step, because the Master was blocking her way forward.

The mother came back to the Master and this time she really was furious. She demanded, "What are you doing? You have taken my children away from me and now you are not allowing me to go back to my house! Just what are you doing?"

The Master replied, "I am absolutely innocent. I am not doing anything. I did not bring your children here. Your children came to me of their own accord. Inwardly I knew that they were bound to come, but I did not tell them to come here. Your children do not want to go back, but you can take them back now if you wish."

At this point both the son and daughter became furious. "Go away!" they told their mother.

The mother said, "I want to go away! Who wants to be with this Master? But he is not allowing me to go back. He is standing in my way."

The Master was smiling and laughing.

The children told their mother, "Make up your mind! Are you going to stay here or do you want to go?"

She replied, "I have to make up my mind? I am going back to your father. But the Master is not permitting me."

The Master said, "No, I am not the one who is stopping you. Your own soul is not allowing you. Your soul wants you also to accept the spiritual life."

"Who is my soul? Why does my soul work this way?" demanded the mother. "I know nothing about the soul."

The Master replied most lovingly, "What shall I tell you? My entire philosophy deals with the soul. The soul is a portion of God. Now your soul is not allowing you to leave me. Please do not blame me."

While the Master was speaking, the mother's love for her children came to the fore. She realised that she could not live without her son and daughter.

The mother said to the Master, "I am going to stay with you unwillingly, because I love my children dearly. They do not want to go back with me, so I must stay here with them."

The Master answered, "Willingly or unwillingly, it is the same. In my boat, some people help me willingly while I am steering the boat and some people sleep and snore. So you can be in the boat sleeping."

The children were doing very, very well in the ashram. Their mother also joined in the spiritual activities. In the meantime, her poor husband was so worried. His wife was not coming back home. He made enquiries and found out that his wife had gone to the Master's ashram. He felt so helpless without his wife that he decided to go in search of her. He came to the ashram and saw the situation. "My God, what has happened?" he asked.

His wife, his son and his daughter had all accepted the spiritual life. When he looked at the children and even at his wife, he saw such happiness in their faces. The children were in the seventh heaven of delight. They were extremely happy. The father started thinking to himself, "I have never seen my wife so happy. All the time she only used to scold me and insult me. Now she is so happy here, and I have never seen the children so happy in their lives. I want happiness from my life and nothing else."

The father said to the Master, "I am also ready and willing. I wish to join your spiritual path."

The Master blessed the father and accepted him as his disciple. This is how the whole family became the Master's disciples.