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countries bring forth scientists and inventors with their undeniable contributions to human welfare, India continues to bring forth saints and mystics. This is not to say that the two are incompatible. Man does not live by bread alone, but neither can man think on an empty stomach. A fine balance needs to be maintained, and it is precisely because this balance seems to be upset today that more and more thinking people discern the need for spiritual guidance.
There was a time when Europeans believed that there was a Sadhu round the corner in every street in India, like "the corner drug-store", and perhaps there were, at one time at least, more sadhus than drug-stores in India. But here, as everywhere else, one has to separate the chaff from the grain, the charlatan from the genuine sage. The true sage never sets up shop for dispensing wisdom, but sooner or later he wins recognition from the people for his wisdom and saintliness. And once that happens people from all walks of life and with a varying degree of social status come to seek his advice and ask for his blessing. His fame spreads far and wide and often is not confined to the geographical boundaries of the country. And yet the sage, if he is a true one, will remain humble and unassuming. Such is the man whose thoughts are presented in this little volume.
The very first sight of Muni Shri Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj is enough to shatter many people's idea of the typical ascetic. Here is no bald pate, wrinkled face and a skinny emaciated body. Instead one's eyes are greeted with a strong, handsome face, a leonine mane of hair, an impressive beard and a powerful physique. One is im
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