A devotee fondly recalls this endearing experience.
When we were young, we held Gurudev in awesome respect. We were very conscious of his high standards of perfection, his attention to the smallest details and his intolerance of slip-shod work. He himself would refer to it as the “famous Chinmaya impatience with mediocrity.”
One day, someone in a satsang asked him, “Swamiji, Sorry for asking you this, but why do you sometimes scold us?” Gurudev gave him a gentle smile and said, “Tell me, how really angry is a mother when she scolds her child? Is there any malice in her scolding? Any viciousness? Any ill-will? She scolds only because she wants her child to improve. She scolds for the child’s own good.
Behind her scolding is care and love. Only care and love. “Can you see the mother in my scolding?”