________________
Mother Teresa and Gurudev wanted to come closer to him. It gave them a chance to stop for a while the congested whirlwind of their lives and to breathe freely. “Meditations” he told them, “means to take your foot off the accelerator! See yourself, be yourself, and free yourself! If you are in motion and turbulence, how can you see?"
In his presence, students absorbed the great art of his living, the art of giving space. In the New York Times, a correspondent once compared Gurudev to Pope John XXIII because he "opened the windows of his faith and let the fresh air in.” From his first day in the West when he hardly knew a single soul, Gurudev began to find scores, and before long, hundreds of friends. Those who came to him in the early years all reiterated in different words the same observation, "He never tried to push anything on us. When a decision needed to be made, he always asked us, 'What do you think? What would you like? What is your idea?' He did not have any preconceived plan.”
Gurudev did not need a plan. The ideal of Reverence for
298
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
