Deception — no, compassion — yes

Whenever Kathiya Baba wanted his disciples to meditate for many hours at night, he used to play a trick on them. He would tell them that he was getting the inner message that at night there was every possibility that some thief would commit a theft in the ashram. To prevent a serious type of robbery, they all must remain awake and there was only one way to do so — that is, to remain in constant meditation. If they could really meditate well, they would be able to remain alert and there would be no theft.

The following day Kathiya Baba would tell them that it had been a false alarm. Although they were deceived each time by the Master, the disciples enjoyed their meditation and offered their Master most soulful gratitude, for they knew that it was not deception after all, but true compassion on his part that had wanted to keep them awake even by telling them a white lie.

Commentary: There are so many ways for a Master to increase the aspiration of his disciples. Sometimes the end justifies the means. If the Master feels that a negligible white lie has tremendous power to raise the consciousness of the disciples, then he will not hesitate to tell that white lie, for he knows precisely what God wants from him. God wants him to help his disciples make progress as fast as possible. God Himself will take care of the Master’s white lie, as the Master is taking care of the disciples.

If Kathiya Baba had simply asked his disciples to meditate for hours, they would all have made friends with sleep. The Master and the disciples had practically no material possessions, but by telling them that there was every possibility of a theft, the Master made them alert. This alertness helped them tremendously in their sincere effort to meditate, and by meditating for many hours they definitely made tremendous progress. So when we make a comparison, the harmless white lie that the Master told is next to nothing when we see the Joy, the Light, the Delight and the other achievements of the disciples which resulted from the Master’s harmless lie.

From:Sri Chinmoy,India and her miracle-feast: come and enjoy yourself, part 6, vol. 1 — Traditional Indian stories about Ramdas Kathiya Baba, Agni Press, 1977
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/imf_6_1