Gautam Chawalla's Correspondence with The Mother

23 December 1966

“Sometimes naked, sometimes mad, now as a scholar, again as a saint. Thus they appear on the earth, the Paramahansas.”— Shankaracharya

Isn’t this rather a sign of weakness than of a growth of consciousness?

Yes, certainly. Formerly in spiritual life, one did not care about the body; one even despised it, and at the first opportunity it was rejected and its imperfections became apparent.

23 December 1966