The core

The ashram was unusually busy. Even though it stood in the middle of nowhere, the place seemed to have found an identity of its own today. Cars lined the narrow path, and people, many more than usual, filled the air with murmurs and anticipation.

The orchestrators of Guruji’s time granted me five minutes. “And only one question,” I was warned.

The Guru smiled knowingly, then gave me a look that said how helpless even he was in managing his own time.

“I will not bother you, Guruji. Just one question — as the Maharaj here has mandated.”

A quick nod from the Guru, and a faintly approving look toward the Maharaj.

“Everyone who is working,” I began, “is looking for reward, recognition, and empathy — all at once, and all the time. How do we manage that and still get them to deliver the right output?”

The Guru chuckled softly. “Many people from the corporate world come with this kind of question,” he said. “I tell them all the same thing: people have to earn it.”

“How do they earn that? I suppose that’s my question.”

“That expectation,” he said, “demands excellence.

At the core of excellence is creativity.

At the core of creativity is freedom.

At the core of freedom is responsibility.

At the core of responsibility is humility.

At the core of humility is oneness.

At the core of oneness is awareness.

At the core of awareness is intelligence.

And at the core of intelligence is God.”

The Guru rattled these off with such fluidity that it seemed as though the answer had existed long before the question was ever asked.

“Second question — though the Maharaj might object,” I said with a smile. “What’s the core of God?”

“Why, the Guru, of course,” he replied, chuckling. “And before you ask — the core of Guru is inner silence.”

The Maharaj was growing impatient. Many others were waiting behind me, some already casting irritated glances my way.

I bowed to the Guru and turned to leave.

“If you made notes of what I said,” he called out after me, “read the entire thing backwards — you will know.”

Maybe I have become smarter now. Maybe not. Perhaps I did not understand anything at all.

Time will tell, I guess.