ABSTRACT
Today before noon MaharsH said he remembered me from the photograph of the ‘ Arunachala Group’ in Brazil, sent to him in 1947 from Curitiba. He inquired about the little book published there in 1948, and whether or not I was the author of it. He asked the attendant to bring a copy from the Ashram library and inquired about its contents. I explained as well as I could, with the help of one of the Brahmin attendants. I told him that I was the author, and that I had myself typed the original which was then translated in Portuguese and published in Brazil. I went to my hut and brought a nicely bound copy with Maharshi’s picture and that of the Brazilian ‘Arunachala Group’ dedicated to him. Then, to my great astonishment, Maharshi began to turn the pages—about a hundred—as carefully and slowly as if he were reading this unknown language. From time to time he directed his penetrating gaze upon me and then once again looked into the book. At last he put it on his knees and spoke to the attendant in Tamil. As soon as he finished, the Brahmin approached me and explained that it was the wish of ‘Bhagavan’ (it is the name given to Maharshi by his devotees and means ‘the blessed one’) to add notes giving the source of my quotations from Sankaracharya’s Viveka-Chudamani, and listing those from the Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. Galled by his gesture, I approached the Sage and took the book from his hands.
