Whatever the Lord sends, that I accept as His will. I have given my whole self—body, mind, actions and feelings—to the will of the Almighty.”

“Suppose you are threatened with death by a murderous ruffian, would you do nothing and accept that as God’s will?”

“When any danger arises I know that I have only to pray and instantly I will receive His protection. Prayer is necessary, but fear is not. I pray frequently and the Lord has marvellously protected me. Yet I have been through great troubles. Through all of them I was conscious of His help and I trust Him fully under every event. One day you, too, will disregard the future and become indifferent to it.”

“There will have to be a remarkable change in me before that happens,” I observe drily.

“That change will surely come.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, you cannot escape your destiny. This spiritual rebirth is an event which comes from God, whether one looks for it or not.”

WHAT is the supreme object, the final goal of this Yoga of Brahma Chinta?” I ask him.

“We seek the condition of sacred trance, for in that condition man obtains perfect proof that he is a soul. Then it is that he frees his mind from his surroundings; objects fade away and the outside world seems to disappear. He discovers the soul as a living, real being within himself; its bliss, peace and power overwhelm him. All he needs is a single experience of this kind to obtain the proof that there is a divine and undying life in himself, never again can he forget it.”

A shred of doubt prompts my enquiry:

“Are you sure that all this is not a deep form of auto-suggestion?”

A ghost of a smile curls around his lips.

“When a mother gives birth to a child, is it possible that she can doubt, even for a single moment, what is happening? And when she comes to look back on that experience, could she ever think that it was only an auto-suggestion? And when she watches her child grow up beside her year after year, can she hesitate at any time and disbelieve in its existence?