It is very difficult to talk about my Guru because he was a really great being. His behavior, his manner, and his discipline were beyond our understanding. He was a great and unique being.

He was free from company. His fingers were always completely outstretched; he never folded them. This indicates that when he gave up something, he gave it up completely. He never got attached to it again. Generally, he spoke very little. Occasionally, he spoke a lot; however, it was hard to understand him. He was such an extraordinary being that although he knew the past, the present, and the future, he remained as though he did not know anything.

If anyone went to him becoming very small and humble, he would also be very humble, and he would talk to that person and give him instructions. If anyone went to him as a great scholar, or a rich person, or a person with power, he would close his eyes completely and turn inward and remain very quiet. In his vision he saw no differences. He did not consider anyone an inferior person, a low person, an ignorant person, or an illiterate person. Also he did not consider anyone to be pure, great, or very smart. He had equal vision. In his life he did not find anything that was good or bad. For him spirituality and worldly life were one and the same. Even if people asked him questions about their mundane life, he would answer those questions. He never felt that one should ask questions only from the scriptures, only about spiritual matters.

He was always in an intoxicated state. He got up every morning at three o'clock and went to take a bath in the hot springs. In the daytime he would remain lying down, absorbed in his own Self, and at night he would talk to his devotees. He had very simple food -- just dal and vegetables, a little rice, and sometimes coffee. He used to sit on a very plain bench. He would lie on a very simple bed, and finally at the end he was sleeping on just a thin mattress.

People used to bring a lot of gifts for him. He never took any interest in them. However, the people around him made good use of those things. Even though lots and lots of people went to see him, they would all become very quiet in his presence. If anyone tried to command or discipline his devotees, he never liked it. As people kept watching him, they would feel him inside themselves; they would feel knowledge arising within them. They did not need to take courses. Even though his eyes were open, he never looked at other people. He liked to gaze inside, to gaze at his own inner Self, and to become absorbed in his own inner Self.

-from From the Finite to the Infinite, by Swami Muktananda