with Sri Ganesh

Later Bitti tells me on the phone that she had indeed seen the car parked by the gate in the evening but had not wanted to look, and that she had then been told by Jayant Thakur that Madhu and his wife had been very disappointed and complained bitterly, and are now returning to Ahmedabad; and that Jayant had then remonstrated with her for not having “control” of the temple. From what she relates, she did well, answering that there was no call for such thing as “control” and she was very happy with the way the temple was looked after, and there was no need at all to open the temple at any odd hours when it is open every morning without fail… Alright. But this all makes me sad: that there seems to be no possibility of change, of evolution, that positions based on bad faith and resentment and selfish regard are maintained over the years without the least trace of self-questioning, without the least inkling of an aspiration for clarity and simple harmony, affection and sharing… The same goes as regards, for instance, Manikandan – these days the thought comes now and then: will there not be a change? Self-examination and a yearning to rejoin, to recover the meaningfulness and beauty and pregnancy of true friendship? In this way I find I have experienced too many of these turnings, of these betrayals, of these vicious, nasty reversals… Why? What is to be learned in this way?

Sri Ganesh, Poised and composed and ever complete You stand at the head Of the lineage, A perfect aristocracy that no power Can threaten or diminish, And because of that ancient privilege

You can be far ahead and Widely reach everywhere –

You need not be concerned With your status And therefore you may be The best friend To each and all –

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