Nothing to Defend
‘Known to his followers as Maharaj Ji, Neem Karoli Baba was a Hindu guru and spiritual teacher who became internationally renowned in the 1960s. He died in 1973, and there are many stories told about him. In one story, one of his devotees was a scientist, and his best friend, who was also a scientist, was always teasing him saying, ‘Why is such an intelligent man like you taken in by these guru frauds? With your scientific viewpoint I just can’t believe it.’ And the devotee just said, ‘Look, I don’t try to convert you or anyone, so just leave it be.’ But his sceptical friend continued teasing him about it as he just could not understand.
Then one day, Neem Karoli Baba came to the city where the two friends lived, and as it happens he was holding a meeting nearby. The devotee went to see him, and his friend went along too, to see the ‘fraud’ for himself. He wanted to meet the man who had seemingly kidnapped the psyche of his great friend.
When they arrived at the meeting, Neem Karoli Baba said to the sceptical friend, ‘Welcome. You forgot to wear your locket today. You must go and put it back on.’ The man was absolutely stunned. He turned to his friend, the devotee, and explained that the locket that Neem Karoli Baba was speaking of was given to him by the doctor who saved him twenty years ago when he had cancer. This doctor was a very special man, and he had told him to always wear the locket to remind him that he would always be well. He had indeed worn the locket every day of his life until that very day when it turned out that he had left it in the bathroom. This was the only time he had ever forgotten to put it on. That was his introduction to Neem Karoli Baba, and from that moment on he became his devotee too.
We all know someone like that man. People who are sceptical, cynical, defensive, overly scientific and overly materialistic, and they have forgotten a holistic view – which is understandable because of the nature of the world and how we are conditioned in this current age.
The point of this story is that such people are just an inch away from being awakened by something happening that reminds them that there is more. However, it is not your job to convert such people in any way, and my recommendation is not to put yourself in a position where you need to be in any way defensive towards people who are sceptical about your path. You simply don’t go there, but say, ‘This is my way and it’s part of who I am.’ Don’t preach it and don’t try to convert anyone. Instead, go the opposite way and move into small talk.
This is the approach I take with people. Unless they directly ask me, I won’t tell them what I really do, or who I am. They have really got to want to know. Even if I tell them that I have written a book about philosophy and spirituality, if they drop the subject I don’t go any further. They have to really probe if they want to know more. They have to show that they are really interested. Then I open up, if they are willing to make the time and the space, which is rare in this day and age.
I recommend that you play hard to get like that, and do not feel in any way pressured around other people. Just enjoy their company, as one human to another. You could buy them a drink, or be generous in some way, and extend some humanity towards them. Just listen to them. Listen to their story without the need for them to hear yours. Then you will gain their trust, or not, but this is the approach I like. It makes your life simple.
I have some wonderful Jehovah’s Witnesses who come to talk to me. Most people have had a Jehovah’s witness come to their door at one time or another. I think they must be very lonely to keep going to the doors of strangers, but they feel that they have a message that they need to give to convert others. They are very gentle in their approach, but still they approach. I am not exactly a Christian, but I am a follower and devotee of Christ, as well as many other teachers. So I am always very open to the Jehovah’s Witnesses visiting, and I talk to them a little bit and try not to scare them off too much.
They usually give me one of their pamphlets which sometimes contain great value, and I always skim through and have a read. This is a nice quote I found in one of them, from the Bible – Psalm 37:10, ‘Just a little while longer and the wicked will be no more. You will look at where they were, and they will not be there. But the meek will possess the earth and they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.’
