“I want to know what you say you are?" One evening as we sat with the group around Thakur, Mother arose, and without preliminaries, asked, "Thakur, a great many of your followers claim that you are God. Now I want to know what you say you are?" The group stirred restlessly, clearly resenting what sounded to them like an attack upon their Saint. An elderly disciple arose at once. "I can explain this . . ." "No, no," Mother cut him off rather rudely, "I've already heard what all of you had to say. Now I want to know what Thakur says!" Thakur's face glowed with a wide, boyish smile. Obviously, he enjoyed both the discomfiture of the group and this American mother's determination. "Ma, if they call me God, will it make me more than I am? And if they call me devil, will it make me any less? As you see me, so I am." Mother nodded, satisfied, and sat down. Apparently, she chose to see him as a son, for in the months that followed, she advised and questioned this elderly Guru in much the same manner and tone that she used with my brothers and me. Thakur responded with a demonstration of filial devotion and affection that exposed my own inadequate attempts to please, to understand . . . and be understood ... as superficial. In this three-way relationship, Mother and I grew very close, and our new understanding pervaded every aspect of our lives together. When her visit was over, she said, "He can't be God. No man can. But Thakur has loved God so deeply that he has gained many qualities of God. He's become godlike/' As the final good-bys were said she wept unashamedly. So did Thakur. So did I. After she had returned to America, I received a letter from my elder brother, a Protestant minister. In it he wrote, "Mother has grown in understanding and depth during the past months with you. It is hard to believe. The regard she has for your Thakur is of such a high order, that someday, if I get the opportunity, I'll come and talk with him myself." Excerpts from “Ocean in a Teacup” by Ray. Archer. Hauserman [Pg.218-219] Sree Sree Thakur presenting the "holy Danda" to Consulate general of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Calcutta Mr.F.F. Anufriev on 24th October,1961