________________
how he could control his expression when he had placidly sipped a cup of tea with salt in it!
I tried my best to console the lady, and going to Acharya Shree, I asked him, “Gurudeva, there was salt in your tea instead of sugar and yet you never said a word about it; even your face did not betray any sign that something was amiss !".
With a pleasant smile, Acharya Shree replied, “Well, if I drink tea everyday with sugar in it, some day I might have it with salt for a change! It would only cleanse the intestines; it won't do me any harm.”
Pointing to the tip of his tongue, he carried on, “After all, it's the tongue that distinguishes between salt and sugar. Once it goes down the gullet, it is just the same. The stomach is like the dealer who buys goods, the tongue is like the agent who is only a go-between. But isn't it common experience that the agent makes a lot more. fuss about the bargain than the dealer? Temperance lies in not allowing this agent to hold sway over us; in keeping him well under control.”
Hearing these words of wisdom, I humbly bowed to Acharya Shree.
70