PREAMBLE 3
note of these sensations; it would always be in tune with
the infinite spirit of stillness and peace. There were
occasions when under certain conditions he would be
dragged down with a jerk as it were to the sense
of the old world and its associations, hut he would be
instantly pulled up by that silent and watchful spirit
within.
In those days Ramdas' haunts were caves, jungles, ruins,
riversides, grave-yards, hills and cremation grounds. It
appeared that these places exerted on him a strange fascina-
tion. Instinctively he avoided the din and bustle of the city
life and was unconsciously led away from it to dreadful
solitudes. The sense of fear had vanished from him
entirely—danger and death had lost their terrors for him.
A feeling of perfect assurance, security and protection was
ever with him. The powerful Ram-mantram never left his
lips. He was uttering it like a machine. It has been
revealed in "In Quest of God" how miraculously he was
more than once saved from terrible situations. It seemed as
if God had taken him up for His experiments—to mould,
transform and manipulate him as He willed—a wax lump in
His dexterous hands.
Some friends of Northern India who had met him dur-
ing his first years wandering life declared that they
observed him as having been possessed by extreme dig-
passion. He was indifferent alike to his body and to the ex-
ternal world and was found absorbed solely in Ram-smaran
or God-remembrance. He was also discovered to be like a
child, passive, docile and obedient. He was bathed, clothed
and fed and led in all things. In fact he had neither attrac-
tion nor repulsion for the world. His attitude towards it
was simply inexpressible, for he felt, in fact, nothing to
interest him in the world, and curiosity he had none. It
was simply a wonderful state. Even intellect and emotion
seemed to have ceased to function. Truly, God by His power
had eradicated from his heart the false, self-asserting ego,