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198 SPIRIT AND THE MIND
lose the sense of community with their peers and lose their referrals and livelihood, many therapists choose to dig in and solidify their traditional position. Many become opinionated, resistant, rigid, when faced with data that challenges their assumptions. And on the other side are psychiatrists who “believe” and become renegades—defying and ridiculing the mainstream. Taking the leap, while trying to build a bridge from one system to the other, is difficult indeed.
To face these challenges and fears, one has to draw on a deep source of inner strength. This was provided me through an extraordinary and monumental experience with Sathya Sai Baba which convinced me of the reality of the divine and gave me the strength to face the fears accompanying death and rebirth.
When I first visited Sai Baba in May of 1972, he was introducing a course in Indian culture and spirituality at his highly respected science and arts college in Brindavan. I went there, a 35-year-old psychiatrist, thinking that I knew who I was and what life was all about. When you really think about it, this was absurd. All the eons that have been and will be, a timeless vastness beyond imagination, and I had the bright (certainly not exclusive) idea that I knew what it was all about. Then I met Baba, and of course he smashes such ideas very quickly: instant humility.
The school facilities are built up now, but at that time the courses were held in a makeshift auditorium made of poles and leaves, with monkeys jumping all around. There was great excitement, however, with prominent speakers and bright students from all over India and around the world converging for this inaugural event with Baba. The speakers were seated in front near the podium while the students sat on the ground. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to sit with the speakers. That was just great for my ego, as it played into my misconception that I knew something of real significance and might even be considered a teacher myself. We waited for our first lesson to begin.
There was a lull in the program and I began talking to a tall distinguished-looking American in front of me. He told me that his son, upon graduating from Harvard Business College, had gone to India on a vacation and written back that he had met God and was planning to stay. Like any concerned parent he had come to take the foolish young man back home. It was apparent from our conversation that the father was quite wealthy, from a successful business in the