One spiritual Master saves another

There was a very, very high spiritual Master. Let us call him Master Balakrishna. One day he was meditating most powerfully in a forest. Alas, the forest was extremely dry and it caught fire. Master Balakrishna was about to be burnt to ashes.

Another spiritual Master — let us call him Lalit — became aware of Balakrishna’s plight. Lalit had conquered fire, and therefore it could not burn him. He assumed another form so that Balakrishna would not be able to recognise who he was. He went to Balakrishna and grabbed him in his arms like a child. Then he carried him away from the fire. In this way, Lalit saved Balakrishna’s life.

Many years later, Balakrishna went to see Lalit because Lalit was such a great spiritual Master. When Lalit saw Balakrishna, he said, “Do you remember the incident when you were meditating in a forest and then the forest caught fire?”

“Then what happened?” enquired Balakrishna.

“Somebody came and…”

“Yes!” exclaimed Balakrishna. “Somebody came out of the blue. He grabbed me and took me out of the forest to safety. That person saved my life!”

Lalit asked, “Who was that person?” Then he assumed the same form that he had taken when he saved Balakrishna. “You see,” he said, “I am the one who saved you.”

Balakrishna knew that someone had come and saved him from the fire, but he had no idea who it was. There was no resemblance at all between Lalit’s ordinary form and the form he had taken when he entered into the forest to save Balakrishna.

After this, Balakrishna and Lalit became very close to each other. Lalit always wanted Balakrishna to go much higher than his own present spiritual height. He would tell Balakrishna, “You can still go much higher, much higher! Why are you not going as high as you can?”

At that time, Balakrishna had many disciples. To them Lalit also criticised Balakrishna. “You have such a bad Master!” he would say. “He is not going nearly as high as he is able to go.” The disciples used to get furious. They would say, “You have no right to speak ill of our Master. How dare you criticise him!” The time came when Lalit decided to take his earth-departure. He said to Balakrishna, “When I leave the body, I would like you to take care of my Ashram and all my disciples.” Balakrishna was stunned. “No, I can never do that,” he said. “You always say such bad things about me. You constantly criticise me. How can I take care of your disciples?”

Master Lalit said, “No, no! My disciples are no match for you. You are much, much more developed than they are, only I want you to go yet higher. That is why I have criticised you in front of your disciples.”

Master Balakrishna answered, “I do not want to take your position. I will not do that.”

“All right, all right,” said Lalit. “All I am asking you to do, then, is to pray and meditate more sincerely.”

By that time, Balakrishna had acquired much occult power and he had had many, many high, higher and highest spiritual experiences. He also had many disciples of his own. He had three or four Masters who helped him greatly. For a few years he would have one Master, and then somebody else would be his Master. But he never accepted a single spiritual Master.