"You are asking, 'Is there a right way to expose oneself to a master?' Every way is right as far as exposing yourself is concerned. Expose in any way – but expose! Open your windows and doors, become vulnerable. All ways of opening are right, and all ways of closing yourself are wrong. There is no right way of closing, and there is no wrong way of exposing.

"I have heard that you went to every person who had been bowing down his head in love, in trust and gratitude, and offered your apology. That makes you an authentic sannyasin. Any pseudo-sannyasin would have escaped and started creating lies and rumors and allegations against me. But instead of doing that, you went to sannyasins to offer your apology.

"You proved your mettle, you proved your dignity, you proved your understanding; and you proved that you are courageous enough to be humble, courageous enough to put your ego aside. Now let this incident not become just a memory, a faraway remembrance. Let this become your moment to moment understanding, becoming deeper, becoming clearer. And it will bring you immense blessings.

"Just a little bit of understanding can bring a tremendous revolution in your life. All seeds are small – the trees may grow high, almost touching the stars, but the seeds are very small. This is just a seed that has fallen into your heart; now allow it to grow. Give nourishment to it, support it, remove all hindrances in its path; and a small seed, which seems to be nothing special in this moment, may bring thousands of flowers.

"Just a little waiting, just a little patience for the spring to come…it always comes. We miss it if we don't have any seeds in our heart – spring comes and goes, nothing blossoms in us. If we have seeds in our heart, then the coming of the spring is understood by every cell and fiber of our being, and the blossoming of our potential becomes a reality forever. The inner spring only comes – it never goes.

"'Dear Mother,' wrote Paddy to his old, old mother. 'I am sending some pills that a witch doctor gave me, and if you take one it will take years off your life.'

"Paddy came home a few weeks later, and there was a beautiful young woman outside his house, rocking a pram in which a baby lay sucking a bottle."