________________
from your immediate interest in sports."
“How can you be contented with such simple living, with only two pieces of cloth to cover your body?” they asked.
“I have found that the less I need, the less dependency, and the less dependency, the less pain. And the less pain, the more happy. Happiness is in one's mental attitude, not in possessions."
Gurudev gave the men a copy of The Beacon. They bowed their heads as he blessed them, and left deeply moved.
Serious students from Spain, England, Australia, Germany, France, and Eastern Europe came to Gurudev for guidance and direction.
An engineer from Czechoslovakia who was working in Goa came to the Fort Upasray to study with Gurudev whenever he had a chance. Once he sat out in the open terrace of a house where Gurudev was spending the afternoon and went into a deep meditation. Though there came to be a heavy downpour of rain, he did not move from his spot. When Gurudev was ready to leave, he looked for his student. He found him drenched, still out on the terrace, oblivious of the pounding rain.
Gurudev laughed. "Come, Jaroslav! Enjoying samādhi in this rain? You are living proof of the laws of the universe!"
Jaroslav came in. “What do you mean, Guruji?”
"You get the secret of that on which you pay complete and whole attention. In all walks of life, that law works. Focus on the Self and it opens its heart. Your energy surges and you have inspiration for life."
Gurudev related to him a story from his own life. "When I was in my teens, my father once asked me to do the samayik meditation, but I had just finished my homework and was sleepy. I told him, 'I don't feel like it. I am going to bed.' Fifteen minutes later, a friend came by and woke me up. 'Hey! Let's go to the movies! All of a sudden I wasn't sleepy any more. We went to the movies and didn't stop chatting until two in the morning. The next day I started thinking, 'I am not honest. I told my father I was tired but kept myself awake for what I
253
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
